Chapter 5: Spring Thaws

I folded my ski jacket into a semblance of a pillow, tucked it between my head and the window of the bus, and tried to ignore the chattering girls behind me. I silently debated if skiing for the day was worth three hours of their giggles and stares.

It was the annual school ski trip. First time through, I had enjoyed skiing. Now, I was taking my first trip to Wisconsin a few years earlier than I had previously. I wanted to see if my knowledge and strength would let me get up and be proficient quickly. I had not counted on the girls on the trip giving me strange looks and then whispering with their heads together.

For some reason, there were not a lot of guys on the trip. I seemed to be both the only freshman boy, and the only unattached male on the bus. Ever since the Winter Prom, I had received plenty of attention from girls at school and around town.

Heather and I had had a pleasant time. She had let me kiss her good night after the dance with a soft gentle kiss that promised more, but had then turned me down for another date during the winter break. As soon as school started back up, I had been approached by many girls looking for either a boyfriend or just a friend who was a boy. I was starting to feel a little like a man whore.

If I had realized I would be plotted for during the long drive up to the ski area today, I might have tried to talk Mom into taking me instead of boarding the bus at five thirty on a cold Saturday morning. Before we had even pulled out of the school parking lot, I had decided that pretending sleep would be my best bet for at least the first leg of the trip.

I almost succeeded in falling asleep when I felt the bus turn and then stop. I cracked open an eye. We were at my old school. I then remembered that it was a district trip today. Obviously, we were picking up more kids. I closed my eyes, hoping that I would not gain an obnoxious seat mate if they thought I was sleeping.

“I guess you were saving this for me,” I heard a familiar voice say. I opened my eyes to see a smiling Jyl Salaway sit down next to me.

I smiled back and glanced up the bus aisle. Jeryl was a few rows ahead, sitting with Kay. “How are you, Jyl?” I asked as I scooted closer to the window and gave her a little more room on the seat.

“I’m great, Paul.” She said it just a little louder than she needed to. Jeryl looked back at the sound of her sister’s voice saying my name. She gave me a dazzling smile and then turned back around. Jyl seemed pleased with herself and then squeezed close to me.

“I was sorry to hear about your friend, Wendy,” she said softly and patted my arm.

“Thanks.” I did not want to discuss Wendy with any of the Salaway women. “How have you been?”

“Good, actually. We’re pretty busy with school and cheerleading and everything. Did you have a good Christmas?”

We continued with small talk. I told her about classes. She asked about girlfriends. I asked who she was dating now and she admitted to being single at the moment. Soon, we were discussing skiing. She and Jordan and Jeryl were all decent skiers from family trips to Colorado every other year. They had not gone this year, so Wisconsin had to be good enough for them. I admitted it was my first time, but that I was looking forward to it.

The trip seemed to fly by. Soon we were at the ski area and unloading. I smiled at the jeans people were wearing with the gaudy sweaters given at Christmas and whatever winter jackets they had. I had learned my lesson the first time through and managed to convince Mom that I needed real ski pants and a decent ski jacket. The Salaway girls and I looked like we were the only ones with decent outerwear for skiing.

I let Jyl guide me to the lockers and stored our backpacks as I admired how she and Jeryl both looked in their snug black ski pants and trim white jackets. Despite the difference in their hair color, given their matching outfits it was obvious they were sisters.

Jeryl kept glancing at me, but stuck next to Kay as we went through the line for boots, skis and poles. I followed Jyl outside and we made our way to the bunny slope. I eyed the chair lift as we stood in line for the T-bar on the bunny slope with the majority of the school kids.

“Let’s see what you can do,” Jyl said as she dropped her skis and stepped into the bindings. I followed suit and shuffled along in line until it was our turn to grab the opposite sides of the T-bar and get pulled up the gentle slope.

I really wanted to get away from everyone and see if my memory would translate to my muscles, but a simple run would probably be the best way to start. As we got to the top of the hill, I let go and coasted away from the lift area, made a turning stop and waited for Jyl to pull up next to me.

“Good, you know how to stop. That’s important,” she said as I adjusted my stocking cap and goggles.

She started to say something else, probably some coaching advice, but I just grinned, pushed off and pointed my skis down the hill to pick up some speed. I was making my second cutting turn when she caught up to me.

“I thought this was your first time!” She said as she passed me. I turned downhill and cut behind her before passing her again and then making a sweeping stop at the bottom of the hill.

“I guess I’m a natural!” I said as she stopped next to me. “Let’s do a bigger hill.”

She laughed and we poled over to the chair lift. She waved at Jeryl and Kay as we passed over their heads heading up the hill for some longer runs.

My legs still felt great when we finally took a break for lunch and I could tell that my instincts were still sharp for skiing. I had avoided a mogul run that Jyl seemed keen on doing, but otherwise had not had any trouble on the hill. I had always hated moguls. We had just sat down to eat a bowl of soup when Jeryl joined us. Kay was still in line with her lunch.

“I’m going with you two after lunch,” she announced as she sat down and peeled off her gloves and jacket. “If I make another run down the bunny hill, I’m going to scream.”

Jyl laughed and stuck her tongue out at her younger sister. “We’ve been tearing it up. Paul is a natural. I still can’t believe this is your first time on skis.”

Jeryl looked at me in surprise. “I saw you guys once or twice. You can’t ski that well your first time, Paul. Did you lie to Jyl?”

“Nope. First time I’ve ever been up on snow skis.” At this age, anyway, I left out. “I did waterski a little before, so maybe that’s why it feels natural.”

Kay joined us then and the conversation turned away from me, thankfully. I really did not want to lie to the girls and I knew I was much better than any first time skier had a right to be.

A little while later, as Kay complained about sore legs, Jyl suggested they go sit in the lodge by the fire for a little bit. “Lot’s of cute guys in there,” she said with a smile and a wink at Jeryl and me.

As soon as they were out of sight, I laughed. “Would you like to hit something other than the bunny hill?” I asked as Jeryl looked at me.

Soon we were back outside and heading to the bigger lifts. We skied hard, chasing each other down the trails. I enjoyed following Jeryl’s lithe figure as she shifted her hips and knees to navigate the trails. She laughed when I tried to dust her at the bottom of the hill. The afternoon flew by.

All too soon, we were back at the base of the hills turning in our skis. As we walked toward the busses, Jeryl grabbed my hand and ducked under my arm to hold herself against me. “Thanks, Paul. I really enjoyed skiing with you this afternoon.” Before I could respond, she darted in and kissed my cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too, kitten.” I hugged her closer and then stepped aside to let her climb the bus steps in front of me. I followed and was soon sharing a seat with her. Kay and Jyl ended up a few seats in front of us, and I soon had a warm young lady cuddled up next to me as we headed out to the highway and home.

Running in winter was cold, but I kept at it at least three times a week to help keep me in shape. It also gave me time to think between jobs on the Beast. My car was shaping up with a functional engine and generator as well as fully weather-proofed electro-hydraulic drive-by-wire system. I had recently finished building the passenger compartment frame and would soon start the body work needed to make it look more like a real car once again. I felt I was on track to take it for a full test drive by the end of the school year. I was satisfied with my progress on the car front.

Now, if I could work on having a girlfriend to take on a drive, I’d be happy with my personal life as well.

I was two miles into a cold, gray Saturday morning run when I decided to do something about it. I reach the corner of the section and turned right, heading down the Salaway’s road. It was too early to stop in to see Jordan, Jyl, or Jeryl, but I hoped I would see some sign of their father taking care of his cattle. As I approached their farm, I was happy to see a light on in the barn. I jogged up just as Mr. Salaway stepped out.

“Good morning, sir,” I said.

“Good morning, Paul. How are you doing?” I was surprised by his smile. I had geared up mentally to argue with him.

“Good, thanks.”

He flipped off the light in the barn, stepped into the yard, and latched the barn door behind him. “I’m glad you stopped by. I’ve been getting quite an earful at home over the past couple of months because of you.”

I was confused now. “About what?”

“About the fact that I may have been a little premature in asking you to stay away from Jeryl for a while.”

“I hope you know that I’ve honored your wishes from the last time we talked, sir.”

“I know you have, Paul. That’s why I’m willing to talk to you about it. I may have overreacted. I did not really realize how much until I saw how happy Jeryl was after her skiing trip a couple of weeks ago.”

“Did she tell you I was on that trip?” I asked.

He nodded. “But she also told me that she and Jyl did not know you were going. Is that true?”

“Yes, sir. I didn’t even think about Jeryl possibly going until I saw them on the bus.”

“I believe you, Paul. You and your cousins have always been fine young gentlemen. Jeryl really enjoyed her day with you. It was the first time since Kay’s party that she seemed happy. That is when I realized I might have been unfair to her and to you.”

“You have to do what you think is best for your daughters, sir. I understand that.”

“Good. It’s going to take a lot of trust from her mother and me to let her start dating again, but I realized that you are a boy I think I can trust. So, I wanted to let you know that you can ask Jeryl out again, if you would like to.”

I could not help but burst into a grin. I wanted to hug him. Instead I grabbed his hand and pumped it up and down. “Thank you, sir. I would definitely like to ask her out again.”

He laughed. “I can tell.” He pulled free and put a hand on my shoulder and guided me toward the house. “We will let her go out with you, Paul, but we may have some restrictions, like a reasonable curfew and having your Mom or one of us drive you on your dates, okay?”

“That’s fine, sir. Thank you for trusting us both,” I said.

We were at the door to their house before he dropped his hand from my shoulder. “I’d invite you in to ask her out right now, but I’d be surprised if any of my daughters are up yet,” he said.

“No problem, sir. I need to get back to my run anyway. If you could, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to Jeryl yet until I can ask her out in person. I’d like to surprise her.”

He smiled. “Okay, but don’t wait too long or my wife and daughters won’t be happy with either of us.”

I grinned and nodded and then headed back to the road. My feet felt lighter and my pace was definitely improved. I seemed to suddenly have something to run toward.

I spent most of that Saturday working on my car. I wanted to call Jeryl and ask her out for the Valentines Dance in two weeks, but I wanted to make it special. A phone call did not seem like the right way to do it.

I fitted the first teardrop fender over my front wheel and carefully slipped two screws in to hold it in place. I wanted the car to be easy to work on and modify, so my design called for many pieces of the body to be held on with flush metal screws, especially around the wheel housings in case I had problems with either the electric drive motors, the gimbaled mountings or the steering hydraulics. The exaggerated teardrop fender would fit the bill of making it easy to pull off, while lending a sleek line to the car. I planned on matching the curving slope in the body line as well, to create some streamlined symmetry in the overall design. As I stepped back and looked at the lone fender, I could see the finished image in my mind. It was going to look cool.

I glanced at the clock on the wall and then began cleaning up my workbench. It was almost time for dinner, and I knew Mom had something in the oven. She would not be happy if I delayed chores and spoiled her timing. I was inside and cleaned up in time to help set the table as she pulled a roast chicken from the oven.

“You seem to be in a good mood,” she said as I pulled plates from the cabinet.

“I am. I ran into Mr. Salaway this morning while I was on my run.” I told her about his change of heart.

“That’s nice, Paul. I’m proud of how you have handled things with Jeryl and the Salaways. I’m surprised you didn’t call her already, though.”

“It was difficult not to, trust me. But I want to ask her out in person, not over the phone. If we were still in the same school, I could do it Monday, but I won’t really have a chance to accidentally bump into her.”

Mom was silent as she carved up the chicken and fixed out plates. As we sat down to dinner, she sighed. “You know, we used to go to the same church as the Salaways.”

I had not really thought about it, but she was right. We had stopped going to church on a regular basis the year after my father died. I had never asked why. It did not seem to mean much to me.

Mom still read the bible on a regular basis, but seemed to have lost her appetite for church. I had never really considered it before, but with a much older perspective, I suddenly realized Mom had a reason for not going and it probably had something to do with dad’s death.

“Why did we stop,” I asked between bites of food.

“The minister and I did not see eye to eye on several things,” Mom answered. “I decided it was probably better to just not go instead of arguing with him.”

“What sort of things?”

Mom put her fork down and looked at me for a minute. Finally, she sighed again and picked her fork back up. “He was trying to comfort me after your father’s death. I did not find his words much comfort.” Her tone said she did not want to talk about it.

“Is the same minister still there?” I could not even remember his name, it had been so long ago.

“I don’t think so.”

“Do you think we could go tomorrow?”

Mom laughed. “Paul, do you think it is a good idea to go to church just to have a chance to ask a girl out?”

I shrugged and swallowed. “I can think of worse reasons to go to church.”

I sat through an agonizing service, forcing a smile on my face once I saw the Salaway girls in the choir behind the pulpit. Jeryl did not seem to notice me until I caught Jordan’s eye and gave her a genuine smile. She quickly nudged Jyl and pointed me out with a nod of her chin. Jyl wasted no time nudging Jeryl in turn. Once she looked at me, the homily became bearable. Her smile made the rest of the service pass quickly, and soon we were heading to the social hall for refreshments.

“Paul,” Jordan said from behind me.

I turned and found myself in a quick series of hugs from Jordan, then Jyl, then Jeryl. It was almost enough to make me a regular church goer.

“Ladies,” I said as my Mom turned and smiled at the girls.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw you in church, Paul.” Jordan commented.

“Me either, Jordan.” I tried not to grin. “I had a special reason to make the effort today, though.”

“Oh, something to pray for?” Their mother had come up behind them. I did not see their dad.

“Well, sort of.” I turned to Jeryl and smiled. “I was hoping it would give me a chance to ask Jeryl to the Valentines Dance a week from Saturday.”

Jeryl’s eyes got wide as she stepped closer to me then looked back at her mother. Janet smiled and nodded.

Jeryl grabbed me in another hug. “I’d love to go. Thank you for coming and asking.” We moved into the line for some pastries, coffee and juice and the girls started peppering me with questions.

“What time is it at? What time will you pick her up? Are you having dinner first? What sort of dance is it? Formal?”

“Semi-formal,” I replied. “It is from eight to eleven. If I can talk Mom into it, I will take her to dinner first, but I’m not sure where yet. I need to have a couple of surprises for her, don’t I?”

They all inhaled to start the next round of questions when Mrs. Salaway laughed and stepped between myself and the girls. “Girls, give the boy a chance to breathe. Jeryl, I’ll take you shopping this afternoon and we’ll see if we can find you a nice dress for the dance. Paul, if your Mom can’t drive or wants to share the burden, I’d be happy to help out.”

Mom reinserted herself in the conversation. “Thanks, Janet. Maybe we could split it up. I can do dinner and get them to the dance and you can pick them up.”

I laughed to myself as I realized a seventy-year-old man had just had two mothers take over all the arrangements for his date. Instead of arguing, I was at least wise enough to smile, nod and let the ladies in my life get on with making all the important decisions for me.

“Jeryl looks stunning,” Lisa whispered to me as we danced. She and Jim were at the dance together and had quickly invited us to sit with them. Jeryl and I had danced together exclusively until Jim insisted we trade partners for at least one dance. I was glad he had. Lisa’s confirmation of my own opinion was a huge boost for my ego.

I knew from my memory that Jeryl would blossom during her freshman year. My own eyes had told me she gained some height and had padded her figure a little since the fall, but seeing her in her new red cocktail dress and classy heels had sealed the deal. She was a hottie. And she was at the dance with me. And we were having a great time.

“Thanks,” I managed to say. “I agree. You look pretty good yourself,” I said with a quick glance up and down Lisa’s trim body. She wore a silver dress and had her hair done up. Jim was a lucky guy, even with Coach Miller sitting off to one side of the gym as a chaperon for the dance.

“Are you guys going to Eric’s party after the dance?”

Eric Peterson, the senior I had filled in for during the playoffs, was having a party. He had invited the whole football team and all the cheerleaders with their dates.

“No. We can’t really. Jeryl’s Mom is picking us up.”

“That’s too bad. I know you two have not had much of a chance to have any ‘alone’ time together.”

I smiled. “You and Jim haven’t either,” I said as I glanced toward the edge of the gym where her father was sitting.

“Oh, we’ve probably had more than you think,” she said with a blush.

I arched an eyebrow but did not say anything as the song ended. We headed back to the table where Jim and I deftly changed places by our girls. I took Jeryl’s hand in mine as she leaned into me rather than sitting back down.

“Thanks for bringing me,” she said as she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I hope you’re having fun.”

“I am. Maybe not as much fun as skiing with you, at least until the next slow song.” As if answering her wish, the band struck up a slow number. I smiled and lead her back out to the dance floor.

Jeryl stepped in close to me and draped her arms around my neck as I dropped mine to her lower back and lowered my head to look into her eyes. She was stunning. Her smile could melt me and her hazel eyes seemed to have found the laughter they had lost in the fall. I kissed her forehead and pulled her tight as we shuffled our feet in typical high-school dance fashion. She rested her head on my shoulder and moved her hands around my waist.

“I wish I could drag you out of here to be alone for a while,” she whispered.

“Me, too, ma’am. But I’d rather have a chance to take you out again and again, and if we snuck out and got caught, that would not happen.”

“I know, but I can wish, can’t I?”

I kissed her again. “Of course you can.”

We finished the dance and all too soon the last song was played and it was time for us to gather our jackets and head for the parking lot. We were not the first people out the door, but we weren’t the last either. Jeryl clung to my arm as we stepped into the cold night air and looked for her mother. We stood near the door for a few minutes before seeing Jordan’s black mustang pull into the parking lot.

Jeryl gave a little squeal and pulled me toward the car. “She did it. Jordan told me she would try to get Mom to let her pick us up. She promised a slow drive home if she did.”

I laughed and stepped out a little faster to open the door for my date and flip the seat forward so we could climb into the back seat.

“Did you have fun, kids?” Jordan asked with a smile.

“Yes, ma’am,” I answered as I slid into the tight back seat and managed to pull the door shut. Jeryl was immediately in my lap and giving me a scorching kiss. I shifted my attention from the cramped back seat to the delectable young lady in my lap and returned her kiss with enthusiasm.

“A-hem,” Jordan said from the front seat, looking at us in the rearview mirror. Jeryl broke our kiss and looked at her sister.

“What? I’ve been a perfect lady all night. If you think I’m going to waste the drive home, you’ve got something else coming.” She stuck her tongue out at her sister and then kissed me again.

Jordan laughed and shifted her car into gear. “Okay, but please don’t let me see anything I’ll have to report to Mom.”

Jeryl broke free again long enough to twist in my lap, and reach up to knock the rearview mirror askew. “Now you won’t see anything back here, sister.”

Her hands returned to my face as she kissed me again. Her lips were soft, but insistent against mine. I drank her in and let my hands slip around her waist to hold her firmly against me as the car began moving. Jordan was kind enough to turn up the radio and pretend to ignore us.

I dropped one hand to her leg and stoked her stocking covered thigh gently as our tongues entered battle. She sifted against my growing erection and moaned into my mouth as I slowly stroked higher.

I was surprised to find the top of a stocking midway up her thigh. She squirmed against me as I softly stroked along the boundary of silk and skin. She turned into me and I let my hand drift higher to cup her delectable, panty clad ass.

“You are so beautiful,” I whispered in Jeryl’s ear as we paused our kissing.

“You make me feel that way,” she whispered back. Her hand dropped between us and managed to cup my erection. “I’d like to help you with this, but that would probably freak Jordan out.”

Luckily my blush could not be seen in the dark. I kissed her neck and then nibbled her ear a little as she gently rubbed me. Too soon, I had to shift her hand away. “Let’s not do anything I’ll have to explain to my Mom,” I said as I squeezed her ass and stroked her thigh. She kissed me and then shifted again to spread her own legs a little further apart.

She nuzzled my ear with her nose. “Can you touch me?” She whispered.

I shifted my grip on her waist and slid my other hand around her hip, tracing the stocking top to the front garter fastening. Slowly I inched my fingers up along the garter until I could feel the edge of her panties. I kissed her as I dragged a finger along the moist center of her panties. She moaned again as I pressed gently, searching for the top of her slit through the damp material.

Slowly I probed and stroked, until she began gently thrusting her hips against my hand. We locked our lips and I felt her shudder against me and pull my head to press our lips harder together. She moaned into my mouth and shuddered again. I was pretty sure she had an orgasm.

Slowly our lips parted. “God, you make me feel so good,” she whispered.

“I’m glad I can,” I replied. Evidently, our timing was perfect. I glanced out the window and could see our house lights through the windshield. I pulled my hand down from her skirt and gave her a hug and a kiss. “Better get straightened up. We’re almost at my house.”

Jordan chose that moment to turn down the radio and reach up to readjust the mirror. “Okay you two, get all your clothes back on. We’re almost at Paul’s.”

Jeryl blew her sister a raspberry, but squirmed around a little to pull the hem of her dress lower. “No clothes came off, this time,” She said. You could hear the pout in her voice. To me she whispered, “Next time, I don’t want to say that.”

I kissed her and then we were pulling in the driveway. I managed to climb out of the backseat and Jeryl followed me out. I put the seat back and then pulled her in for a final embrace and kiss good night.

We kissed until Jordan cleared her throat again. “Good night, Paul. Thanks for a great evening,” Jeryl said.

“My pleasure, ma’am.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure it was my pleasure, too.”

“Taylor!”

“Yes, coach?” I answered as I exited the locker room after PE.

“I don’t see your name on the track sign-up sheet. Why not?”

I started a flip answer and then stopped myself. “Just didn’t see it, coach. Are there tryouts?”

“Yes and no. Anyone can sign-up and we’ll figure out what events to place you in. I think you can be a contender in the 440 and maybe the mile. What do you think?”

“I’ll try whatever you want me to, coach.”

“Good answer. Practice starts next Monday after school. Don’t be late.”

That was how I joined the track team. I was running regularly anyway and knew it would not hurt my standing with the coaches to be seen in a spring sport. I knew I would never play baseball, so this was a good compromise.

I headed off to lunch and caught up with Lisa and Jim. “Looks like your dad has it in for me, Lisa.” I joked.

“What do you mean?”

“Track. He told me to sign up today.”

“Good for you. You need to do something to stay in shape.” So much for a sympathetic ear.

Jim shook his head. “The Coaches tell all the skills positions to go out for track to improve speed and stamina for football. They don’t like you ‘slacking off’ on the baseball diamond.” Jim played second base. “I swear Coach J runs us harder in baseball than Lisa’s dad does in track.”

I snorted. “Let’s check our times on the 440 and mile in a month and then decide if that’s true,” I said.

“Four-forty? How did you decide to run that?”

The quarter mile was the longest sprint in track. I knew from my prior life that it was not a fun race. The few times I had run it the first time through, it had made me vomit. I was not looking forward to training for this race.

“Coach picked it.”

Jim shook his head. “You win. You’re going to run a ton more than me this spring. Sucker.”

“Fifty-eight nine, Taylor. I thought you were faster than that!” Coach yelled.

“Shit,” I muttered. I had never been under sixty seconds on the four-forty the first time through. Now I was four seconds off the school record, and still too slow for coach. It was the third timed sprint of the practice and my best of the day and I was already the fastest on the team for this race. Baseball was starting to look pretty good.

I walked around the track, our only rest between sprints, and wondered what I could do differently. Nothing came to mind as I ran out of track and headed back to the starting blocks. Coach waved us all together.

“Okay, we have three problems with all the sprinters; start speed getting off the line and up to speed, maximum speed and endurance. Taylor, how many miles do you do outside practice in a week?”

“Twelve to sixteen, coach.”

My teammates looked at me like I had two heads.

“Your endurance is good, but not at the sprinting speed you need to maintain. You need to cut the miles and do more back-to-back sprints. It’s a different kind of endurance for this race.”

“Blake, your top speed is low because you have a short stride. We need you to be stretching out and pumping your arms more. Once your sprinting is faster, you’ll need to increase your endurance as well.”

“Billings, you need to work on your starting. Everyone else is on their second step before you are out of the blocks. You all have to focus on each part of your race and transition between those parts easily. Understand?”

“Yes, Coach!” We yelled. Some things were the same regardless of the sport.

“Stairs. Last person does it again!”

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