Chapter 6 :The Crash

I didn't need to turn around to know it was Merilee's voice. I was caught, dead-to-rights. I turned around slowly to see if she had anyone with her. In fact, she was leaning out the window of the room I'd just passed, fully clothed as far as I could tell.

I walked slowly back toward her, but said nothing. I hadn't any idea of what I could say anyway.

"You interested in joining our group, or are you just a horny teenage pervert who gets off on watching other people have sex?"

"What are you doing here, Merilee? I thought this was an adults and couples only deal."

"There's always exceptions to the rule. I'm one of them. Now, what are you doing here?"

"Some of the people in that house are parents of friends of mine. I was trying to figure out why they were here?"

"Isn't that obvious? They enjoy sex. It's even more fun when there's variety. No one's doing any harm to anyone else. We're all consenting adults."

"I'm not so sure about not doing harm. What about the kids who find out their parents are in this club? How much will that harm them?"

"Do you think that some of your friends know?"

"Some do, some don't. I won't be the one to tell them, if that's what you're wondering. How did you know I'd be here, anyway?"

"Oh come on, Steve. That little drive up here on our way home from the play was pretty obvious. I was fairly sure you knew something then. I took a guess that you might pay us a visit tonight. Looks like I was right."

"So what now, Merilee?"

"Up to you, Steve. Do you want to come in and meet everyone?"

"No, I don't think so. I know some of those people, and it would pretty much cause a real problem with them if they knew I was here."

"Your choice. You could lose your cherry tonight. It could be a real education for you."

"I don't think so, Merilee. I think I'll stick with my own kind. I guess I should be grateful my own parents aren't in this bunch."

"Suit yourself. This little conversation will just be between you and me. I don't need to be exposed by you either. See you next week," she said, closing the window and then pulling the curtains across.

There was no point in staying, so I headed back to my car. I had some serious thinking to do.

It took me another month to suck up the courage to call Dory.

"Hi, Dory, it's me, Steve."

"Hi, Steve. What can I do for you?" she asked, sounding at least curious.

"I was wondering if we could get together for a talk. It's been a while, you know."

"We see each other every day of school, Steve. We could have talked then."

It suddenly struck me that she wasn't calling me "Stevie" any more. I didn't take that as a good sign.

"Yeah ... well ... if you don't want to, then ... okay ... I'll understand."

"I didn't say I didn't want to. By the sound of it, this is serious. Is it?"

"Well ... I guess it is ... to me. Anyway, it's up to you. Yes or no. I'll understand if you don't."

"Okay ... let's talk. When and where?"

"Well, I'm free Saturday night and Sunday as per usual. Which works for you?"

"You know where my parents are going on Saturday night, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the house will be all mine, so why don't you come over."

"You don't have a date?" I asked tentatively.

"No, I don't have a date," she answered, sounding a little irritated.

"Okay, I assume ten o'clock will be soon enough?"

"Yeah. They'll be gone by then. I'm driving tomorrow, so I'll pick you up first, okay?"

"Sure. The usual time. See you then, Dory ... and thanks."

"Okay, bye Steve."

I hung up and sat back, feeling really lousy. No more "Stevie." We weren't going to be close again. I knew it now and it hurt. I had a thing for Dory and now I knew it for sure. I liked her even before she lost the weight and started to dress better. I was there for her when she found out what her mom and dad were up to. But now, it sounded like it was all over. That felt lousy.

"Come in," she said without a smile when she opened the door.

I stepped into the Paulson home as I had so many times before. Now ... now it seemed like alien territory. How long ago was it that I'd last been here? February? March? It was May now and our first year was ending. I had one more exam to write and I was fairly sure I would get through okay. I was going to make my first year and a lot of the credit would go to Dory.

"You said you wanted to talk," she said, sitting in a chair and not on the sofa with me as she normally did.

I chose the sofa. I took a big breath and let it out. This wasn't going to be easy.

"I came to see if there was any way you could forgive me and we could get back together," I finally blurted out. I was about to carry on when I saw the look on Dory's face. It was almost one of relief. I didn't understand, so I shut up.

"That's it? That's what this is about?"

"Yeah. I feel sick about how we broke up, Dory. It was all my fault. Me and my big mouth. The only reason I open it is to change feet. I'm sorry and I wish I could take it all back."

She sat there staring at me, with a look I couldn't read. She didn't say anything for the longest time and once again I was tempted to say something, but held back.

"You don't have to apologize, Stevie. I was just as guilty of going off on you for no good reason. My friends keep telling me that I'm too thin-skinned. I don't handle pressure well and that I don't listen sometimes. If you remember, you were trying to compliment me ... or something like that ... when I got angry for the wrong reason. I thought you were pressuring me into having sex with you."

"No ... no ... no... ," I said, shaking my head. "I would never do that. Surely you know me better than that, Dory. All those times when I kept my hands to myself. I thought you understood. You were the leader, I was the follower. If you said no, then it was no. End of story."

"I know. I ... I'm sorry too, Stevie. I didn't want to break up with you. You're my best friend ... or at least ... you were. I screwed up, didn't I?"

Well, at least she was back to calling me "Stevie" again. That was a big step. My eyes were beginning to tear up. I was blinking like crazy trying to clear them, but it was hopeless. I could feel the tears trickle down my cheeks.

She was over to me in a flash, her arms around me and holding me close. I pulled my head back and could see through the watery blur that she was in tears as well. I kissed her and she kissed me back and we held onto each other while we got all our regrets out of our system. Maybe I was a sissy, but Dory was important to me. More important than I wanted to admit.

I didn't leave the Paulson house until early the next morning. As long as I was home before seven o'clock, I was pretty sure my parents wouldn't know I was out all night. But, at that point, I didn't care, because what had happened that night was something out of a fairy tale. We'd made up, and I was really happy. We talked. I mean, we really talked. It was past midnight when we were talked out and I got ready to go home.

"Stay with me, Stevie. Please," she whispered as we held each other. "It's time. Time for you and me to ... make love."

"Dory ... I don't know what to say. I'm almost afraid to say yes. We've just got back together. I don't want to screw it all up again."

"Remember what you said, Stevie? I'm the leader and you're the follower? Remember?"

"Of course. It's true, too."

"Then your leader wants you in her bed tonight and a lot of other nights too. Are you going to follow willingly, or am I going to have to drag you, kicking and screaming."

I could hear the humour in her words and yet I knew she was serious.

"You have to make me one promise, Dory. You have to tell me what you like and what you don't like. Our first time is really important to me, just like it's important to you."

"See, Stevie. You're not a selfish prick after all," she giggled. "I promise we'll make this special for both of us."

She was right. It was special for both of us. She put a towel down on the bed because she didn't know how much blood would appear. That gave me a queasy stomach for a few moments, but as luck would have it, there wasn't much blood. I was happy there wasn't much pain for Dory, either.

I didn't expect to last very long, and I was right, but we both knew that was likely. We threw the towel into the washing machine and then took a shower ... together. I got to soap Dory down in all the best spots too. I got to dry her off as well. We did a lot of kissing and holding as I did. Then she took me back to her bed.

The second time was so much better than I nearly passed out from pleasure. As we lay facing each other, we talked some more about what fools we were and how it was going to be different now.

"Did you have many dates while we were apart," I asked her as we lay there waiting for me to recover.

"No. Sometimes I pretended to have a date so you'd be jealous. I only went out two times and both were a waste. Two guys who had one thing on their mind; getting their hands on my tits."

"Something like me then," I kidded.

"No ... nothing like you, Stevie. They didn't take 'No' very well. It was like being in a wrestling match. I figured I'd do without before I'd go out with another one of those clowns."

"I only had one date. Merilee White."