Junior Year Box Set

“Was that one at a time, or all at once?” Beth asked.

“BETH!” Mrs. A screeched.

“Careful how you answer that,” my mom warned.

“I may have phrased that wrong,” I admitted.

That got me out of trouble. I should have just said all that this morning, but I had a brain cramp or something. I sat down next to Beth, and then Pam sat on my lap.

“Hi, David,” Pam said with a cheeky grin.

Beth rolled her eyes at me.

“Hi, Pam,” I said.

“I want to be your date to Michigan this weekend,” she said.

“I’m not doing that anymore. This weekend is just the guys. Our parents aren’t even going.”

“Did the Wesleyan girls ruin it by what happened on the last trip?” Pam asked.

She alluded to us having to rescue Missy at the fraternity.

“No, they didn’t. We decided that we needed to focus on the visit, and with everyone coming we weren’t doing that,” I lied.

Rescuing Missy had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. With everyone else there, I was more worried about them than I was about the football program and campus. I wanted to go to Michigan and have some fun. I didn’t want to go on a raid of a fraternity house in the middle of the night or find my two best friends naked in my bed.

Pam leaned forward and blew her hot breath on my neck, which woke up Mr. Happy.

“So, you never answered Beth’s question,” she said.

Beth covered her mouth and tried not to laugh. Tracy saw my expression, came over and rescued me from Pam.

“We need to get going,” Tracy announced.

When Pam got off my lap, I jumped on Beth and tickled her. We ended up almost breaking the coffee table when she pushed me off of her and I grabbed her as I rolled off the couch. I bench-pressed her when she tried to give me a hickey. Mom quickly stopped us before we destroyed her living room with our roughhousing. I think that was a direct quote.

◊◊◊ Tuesday September 22

Brook waited for me after practice.

“You ready for another adventure?” she asked.

If it was anything like skydiving, I was more than ready.

“Sure,” I said as we got into the Jeep.

Brook directed me to the state road out of town. On the ride, she wanted to talk about Saturday night.

“I was pissed when you didn’t want to have sex with me to get revenge on Ken.”

I felt my temper flare.

“Hang on, that turned out to be a terrible idea. Afterward, I felt awful about even being a part of it. Plus, the first time I have sex with you will not involve other people. It’ll just be the two of us,” I said.

“I’m not sure I want to have sex with you. From what you said last night, I would just be part of your harem. I’m not some booty call!”

I bit my tongue and went quiet. I think that was precisely what Ken had thought.

It was probably good that our ride was so long. It gave us a chance to cool off. She made me pull into McDonald’s. I tried to avoid fast food, but my stomach felt like it was ready to chew its way out to find food. We ate as we finished driving to our destination. It turned out to be a motocross track.

I’d always wanted a motorcycle! I probably looked like the Joker, my smile was so big. Currently racing were little kids who must not have been more than ten. Their dirt bikes roared as they jumped the hills on the course. Brook had to pull me away to go get signed up and into the proper gear.

We walked into the office, which was a combination motorcycle shop and where they managed the track. The girl behind the desk told us that they rented gear and bikes. She took one look at me and shook her head.

“I don’t think we have any rental gear that’ll fit you.”

“I don’t think I want to wear rented gear either,” Brook said.

The girl took us over to where they had motocross gear. Bright yellow racing pants were all that they had that were long enough. The girl went into the back and found a matching jacket. While that was going on, Brook found their leather section.

“David,” she called across the store as she held up some leather pants.

I walked over, and she handed them to me.

“Go try these on,” Brook ordered.

I figured I would humor her because she had brought me to this little spot of heaven. I went to the dressing room and learned that putting on leather pants wasn’t like putting on regular pants. I had to work to get them on. I think the legs were designed for someone smaller than me, even though they were my size. They didn’t give like jeans would have. When I finally got them up, the issue became getting them buttoned up and the fly zipped. I worked at it and finally got it done, but my family jewels gave me a warning that they were not staying trapped like that for very long.

I came out, and Brook shook her head.

“Take your t-shirt off so I can see.”

I took it off, tossed it to her and did some of my model poses.

“Mom, get out here,” the girl called.

“What’s so important that you have to yell?” her mother said, and then saw me. “Oh!”

I glanced over at a mirror and did a double take. I felt these pants were tight, but they looked like a second skin.

“We’ll take them,” Brook announced.