21: Girlfriends

Candace and I had a blast. She was at least a couple inches shorter than me. That made me feel good, even though most of my friends were taller. We went through the exhibits and she wanted to see my ribbon for bread. She'd snagged a piece before we left the set and munched it as we loaded our stuff. On the way through the Commercial Building, we saw a sign at the Vita-Mix booth that said, "Brian's Gazpacho, 11:00, 1:00, 3:00, and 5:00." It was hastily lettered and was sitting next to the recipe card that we handed out to the audience.

"Are you demoing here?"

"Not that I know of. Let's go before they ask me!" We wandered on over to the Foods Exhibit Hall.

"That's cool that you won two blue ribbons in 4-H Foods. You are probably the only boy who has ever done that."

"Yeah, but look at that loaf above mine. I've got to meet this Claudia Leoni. That bread looks fantastic and I want to learn her recipe."

"Oh, you know Claudia," Candace said. "You can't miss her in the hall. She's almost as wide as she is tall. I'm sure you've seen her."

"Um ... Candace. Maybe I should have mentioned this earlier. I haven't really been in the high school halls much."

"Did you just transfer?"

"No. Crap. I'm just going to be a freshman."

"You're kidding." She stopped still in her tracks and just stared out into space for a minute. "You're that kid."

"Do you have any idea how ominous that sounds?"

"It's not. It's a thank you, really. I wasn't in school the day you took out Kirby's gang. I was at a speech competition. I sure heard about it though. And I am very thankful they aren't in school anymore."

"No matter what you heard, I didn't really do anything but taunt them into confessing. It was their own stupidity that got them arrested."

"And your brain. Kirby's girlfriend broke up with him in April and suddenly transferred to another school, right in the middle of the semester. Kirby was looking for a replacement and kept stalking me. It was too creepy."

"I didn't realize she was his girlfriend. She was with him when they beat the shit out of me, but apparently it was too much for her. This summer, I found out she'd gone to the police and confessed everything they did and then testified against him. She's on probation now, but she did her part to put him behind bars."

"Nonetheless, you getting him arrested made the rest of my school year safer."

"I suppose you're a junior or something." I thought of the fact that Joanne wouldn't date me or be with me because she was two years older than me. I figured I could be home in time to make dinner tonight if I called Mom now.

"Senior, actually." We walked on through the building in silence for a few minutes. Then I felt her hand in mine. "I don't care," she said. "I'm going to test that garlic theory today sometime." My heart skipped into my throat.

We went into the show arena and watched the dressage riders for a while. It was cool in the arena and we could lean back against the bleachers behind us. Candace didn't let go of my hand. Dressage is a very calm riding sport. You get points for speed, but you get docked points for errors. The best riders weren't always the fastest. I guess it was the same in barrel racing. You got disqualified if you cut the barrels too tight and knocked one over. That usually slowed you up anyway. Candace and I talked about everything. She told me some of the secrets to getting around the various classes and who to watch out for. I told her about my interest in chemistry and my hope that I'd be able to take mostly advanced placement classes by the time I'm a junior.

And she was funny! The stories she told about people had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt. They weren't mean stories and I couldn't tell which ones were true or even based on something true, like the story of her brother eating the Eiffel Tower. We had to move up to the last row of the bleachers so we wouldn't disturb the riders and even then a guy finally came up and asked us to leave. I didn't care. We just kept walking and talking and holding hands. We went through every single hall and barn at the fair and got to pet the rabbits and watched the pig races. We entered the craft hall and there was hardly any one there. We were looking at a photo exhibit and I turned and kissed her. I only intended to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned toward me at the same time and our lips met. It was soft and a little tentative since I hadn't intended to kiss her lips.

"Mmm. No taste of garlic yet," she said when we parted. "I'll have to test further later." We walked over to the blankets and she squeezed my hand. I looked at her and could tell something was brewing. "I have to be honest with you, Brian. I don't want a full-time boyfriend." We'd had so much fun, but that damned kiss and now it was going to be over.

"Yeah, I know. What would a hot senior be doing with the littlest guy in the freshman class? People would think you were my babysitter." I started to pull away, but she tightened her grip on my hand.

"You're not listening, Brian. Where's the quick wit that talked about kissing me on television? I said I don't want a full-time boyfriend. That doesn't mean I never want to date. If you continue to not have a girlfriend or just have part-time girlfriends, I wouldn't mind being with you sometimes. You just have to understand that I'm just one of the girls and either one of us might go out with someone else. You've probably got your eye on some of your cute classmates already, haven't you?" I thought about Rose and even Jennifer and Courtney. I laughed.

"Do you really mean that, Candace? That sometimes if we were feeling like it, we might go on a date?"

"I mean it. Can you stand to ask an older woman out or am I too much of a cougar?"

"So far, I don't have any idea if you're a wild cat."

"Maybe I'd better show you." She put her hand behind my head and pulled me in for a kiss. It was short, but it left me out of breath. "No garlic yet. We'll try again later."

When we decided to leave, Candace led me to her car and got in the driver's seat.

"You drove? Man! I thought your parents were going to pick us up."

"Did I say anything like that? I said I'd drop you off. Now fasten your seatbelt and put your hand here on the armrest." I obeyed. Hell. I think maybe I enjoy being ordered around by girls.

She pulled out of the parking lot and once we were back on the road she reached over and took my hand again. Instead of going straight to my house, though, she drove me over to the high school and parked around back.

"I figured I shouldn't do this in your driveway," she said. With that, she pulled me in for a kiss that curled my toes. I wrapped my arm around her and held her as we kissed. It was a little awkward with the armrest between us, but we both stretched to get as much body contact as possible.

Okay. Every girl I've kissed like that has pulled away because she was afraid if we did it again she'd lose her virginity. This was the very first time I thought I would. She could do anything she wanted and I'd be happy with it.

"You're not inexperienced, are you?" she said as she started the car again. "But you really are a gentleman. Thank you."

"Really, thank you. You might be the best kisser I've ever met. Or at least close."

"Thanks. I don't want to know everyone you've kissed, and you don't want to know about me. But the gentleman part really goes a long way with me. No girl likes to be pawed just because she kisses a guy. For me, if a guy tries that, he's history. You'll probably hear people at school say I love 'em and leave 'em. That's not exactly true. I'm not saying I'm pure as the driven snow, but I'm not going to let anyone make me feel like I owe them sex."

"Candace, I've only been out with you this one time. Kissing you was a lot further than I ever expected us to go."

"Even with what you said on TV?" she laughed. "I don't usually do that much making out on a first date, either, but we had a really good time and you kept your hands to yourself." We pulled into my driveway and she stopped the car so I could get out. I leaned over and gave her a soft quick kiss on the lips and opened my door. "Hey, Brian." I stopped. "It doesn't mean your hands will never be welcome. Just that I'll tell you when, okay?" All I could do was grin at her.

"I'll see you in school, Candace," I said.

"You bet you will!"

The phone was ringing when I got in the house. That was unusual. With Betts home, I expected her to be on the phone. I heard her answer it.

"Just a minute. He just came in the door—from his date," she added with a little venom. She walked into the kitchen and shoved the phone at me. "It's a girl." She stormed out of the kitchen and I lifted the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Are you really going out with her? She was so funny! We want to meet her." We?

"Jennifer?"

"No, it's Courtney, but Jen is with me. We saw you on TV this morning and that girl looked like she was going after you right there in the kitchen. She is so hot!"

"Well, we did spend the afternoon together at the fair. She's pretty cool, but she's not my full-time girlfriend. We might date occasionally this year, though. It's a big maybe."

"Full-time? Are we your part-time girlfriends then?" That was definitely Jennifer's voice.

"What are you guys doing, sharing the phone?"

"Yeah. We've both got our ear to the receiver and our cheeks are touching so we can both have our mouths next to the phone."

"And her lips are so close to mine that I sometimes just have to kiss them." I lost track of which one was speaking but the visual image had me hard. I wished the phone cord was long enough to reach up to the attic.

"You two are so wicked," I whispered. "Stop that. My family's home." I heard a big kiss.

"Mmm. You didn't answer our question. Are we your part-time girlfriends?"

"You know that would be hard," I said. "We'd never see each other. I'd love to see you both again if I can."

"We'll be your girlfriends but you can go out with anyone you want to."

"How's that any different than not being my girlfriends?"

"Then we could tell all the creepy guys here that our boyfriend is a hot TV star and wouldn't want us to go out with anyone else." We all laughed.

"I guess since I'm not there, you can tell them anything you want. Just don't give them my address. I don't need anyone else wanting to beat me up."

"Seriously, Brian, your demo was really cool and we wanted to just talk to you for a few minutes. I know we've only been sort of together a couple times in the last year, but we really like you and don't want to lose track. It was really sweet of you to write to us and be concerned that we were in trouble."

"Is everything okay?"

"We're on the phone, aren't we? Jen's mom is cool. Oh, she grilled us all the way back to Kokomo. Then she told us firmly that we need to tell her up front when we want to go meet our boyfriend so she doesn't worry about us. She gave us one fifteen minute call a month when we can call you. Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah. Jen, tell your mom thank you from me."

"Oh, she'll like that! Our time's almost up. We don't dare go over our time or she'll take it away. We've got a kitchen timer set and it's ticking right beside us." What an image sprang into my mind right then! "So be sure to write soon, boyfriend. We miss you. We'll send a letter and tell you when we can call next month."

"Miss you, too, girlfriends," I chuckled. "I'll write as soon as the Fair is over this week. I'm racing Thursday."

"WooHoo! Ride 'em cowboy," they shouted. "Good luck. Talk to you soon. 'Bye."

We didn't have time for long drawn out goodbyes. I said "'Bye," and they were gone. Well, that was interesting.

"I am not your social secretary," Betts growled at me as soon as I went in to hang up the phone. "Here. I told all of them you were out with your new girlfriend. Oh, don't worry. It'll be over in a few days. I know Candace. She's a love 'em and leave 'em girl. The drama queens are all that way."

"Yeah. I know her reputation. Aww! You told Rose she was my girlfriend?" Betts looked smug. I grabbed the phone back and went to the kitchen to call Rose.

"She's not my girlfriend!" I said as soon as Rose answered.

"Well neither am I," Rose shot back. I looked at the phone. She sounded pissed. Then I heard her laughing. "Your sister's a real bitch, isn't she?" I started howling with laughter and Betts poked her head back I the kitchen I looked her straight in the eye.

"Yeah, she is. Everybody called this afternoon and she told them all Candace was my new girlfriend."

"Nobody believed her. Be careful around Candace, though. She's got quite a reputation."

"Well, you know, unless someone who lives closer than seventy-five miles away wants to be my full-time girlfriend, I guess I can date a different girl every week if I want."

"Maybe we can all be your girlfriends. Bri, you're not mad at us are you?"

"Hell no, Rose. I'm going to be fifteen in forty days. When do you turn fifteen?"

"December twenty-first."

"Thanks. I'm putting that in my calendar. My dear Rose, I don't want anything to stop you from seeing anyone you want, but if you are available, I'd love to take you out on your birthday. Can we make it a tentative date?"

"Bri! Really?"

"Yeah, really. As long as neither of us has a regular boy or girlfriend, I'd love to take you out again."

"Do we have to wait until December?"

"No way. But like you said. We really can't go steady. Neither one of us is ready for that."

"Yeah. And we'd get killed if we did."

"What?"

"Well, Liz and Samantha both want to go out with you, too."

"Samantha?"

"I notice you didn't question Liz. And I'll just bet that you are going to take Rhonda horseback riding this fall. And rumor has it that Brenda wants to ... uh ... see you at the lake on Labor Day."

"No way. Brenda's with Carl."

"She says they're just going to date around this year. I think they're both afraid it's been getting too serious."

"I'll have to tell Carl welcome to the club." I laughed. And realized I meant it. Betts grabbed the phone as soon as I hung up, scowled at me and took it to her room while she was dialing. I'd have to call everyone else tomorrow.