This is a story of two long time friends sharing more of each other after years of friendship.
Sara and I had grown up together. We played together even before kindergarten. She lived in the house that adjoined our backyard. We were best friends, then and now. We shared everything with each other. Well, almost everything. Nothing sexual ever happened between us. Sure, we talked about sex, but never considered anything between us. At least I hadn't.
When we were in eight grade, my parents built a new house and we moved 6 blocks away. This didn't stop us from our bond. There was a woods between Sara's house and mine. We had spent many days during our childhood there, and it turned out to be our meeting place after the move. We spent many days there, talking about everything.
As time went on, we matured, but still remained friends. I was into sports and got pretty good grades. I had some friends in the socially accepted upper class, but made no point of becoming what they were. Sara, who had always carried a few extra pounds, didn't really fit into any of the social classes upper lower or middle of the road.
You see she was content with who she was. That's what I loved about her. She had a very pretty face. A smile that could melt the coldest of hearts. She was about 5'6" and 145 pounds.
She had friends to hang with, but no one close other than me. I was asked by a few people why I hung out with her. My usual reply was 'for more reasons than you'll ever know'.
This girl knew me. Almost as well as I knew myself. I didn't bother ever lying to her. She would know instantly! Sure I teased her a lot and she teased me. But she would know in an instant if I ever meant to hurt her or lie to her.
We both dated other people in high school. I saw her the day after I lost my cherry. We met outside of school during our lunch hour. She didn't even know that I had a date the night before. But she knew something was different about me. That's how well this girl knew me.
I think that she was a bit embarrassed to ask me directly so she led off with the question "did you finally get accepted to Marquette?" "No nothing like that. " I replied. "Then you must have had sex last night!" I was certain that the first question was just a lead in. She could tell just by looking into my eyes that I had sex the night before.
"What? No way!" I said trying to conceal it. She just tilted her head and tapped her foot impatiently as she did.
She would always do this when she knew I wasn't telling her the whole story about anything. I just stood there silently. By doing so, I admitted that there was more to the story but I was unwilling to share it. She shrugged her shoulders and the smile left her face. God, I hated that! "Fine" she said. "I have to go study for the soc test. Grades don't come as easy for me compared to some people I know. " She said sarcastically. Ouch.
Sara called me after school and said that she needed a break from studying. "Okay, want to meet at Danny's for some ice cream?
"No, I'm on a diet. " She said laughing. "Meet me in the bog (what we used to call our meeting place in the woods) in 15 minutes. I told her that I would and hung up the phone. Why there? Since my parents bought me a car, we hadn't needed to meet there in almost a year.
When I got there, she seemed to be pacing impatiently. She just looked at me. "So, this is the way it's going to be. You find some girl to show you the ropes and you shut me out?" she snapped.
"I'm sorry. Okay, so it happened. So what?" I snapped back.
"Who was it?" she asked. The edge had not left her voice.
"Sue Bellmont" I replied.
"Oh, that's just fucking great! You know how well we get along!" she said visibly upset. "Don't bother telling me the details, I'm sure she'll be flaunting it in front of me tomorrow. " She stated flatly.
There was an awkward silence. I had to say something. But what? "Well, if it's any matter to you, it wasn't all it's cracked up to be. I expected her to at least move a little when we did it. She just laid there. " I said. Which was true.
"Doesn't say much for your technique does it slugger!" she said sarcastically. She pushed by me and said "Let's go get some damn ice cream. "
We walked back to my house and I drove us to Danny's. We were waiting in line making small talk. There seemed to be a huge silent agenda between us.
Just when I thought things couldn't get any more uncomfortable, Sue Bellmont walked in. She walked right in front of Sara and hooked her arm in mine. "So nice of you to buy me some ice cream," Sue said in a sticky sweet voice.
Sara turned bright red in anger and spun around and headed straight out of the door.
"What's wrong with her?" she asked, pretending not to know. This girl was trouble and she was about to come between my best friend and I. We sat at a booth and silently ate our ice cream.
We were half way through when Sara came walking back in and stopped at our table looking me square in the eye. "At least you could have told me you were meeting her here! Thanks for nothing!" she said.
She was pissed! Before I could reply, Sue spoke up and said, "What's wrong Sara? Sad that I got to him first? Or didn't that plump little body of yours do it for him?" she taunted.
Oh, God. Here comes world wars 3, 4, and 5! "Our friendship is none of your fucking business! Don't try to come between us or you'll be fucking sorry!" Sara threatened.
I had never see Sara this mad before. Or heard her use those words with anyone but me. Then, adding to my horror, more words from Sue. "You're the one that should be sorry, I was the first one to ever ride his big dick, and he's mine now... " she cooed very sarcastically.
I guess Sara had enough. As she turned to walk out she looked at sue and said "You gold digging little bitch!"
I saw Sue on and off for the next few months. She was telling everyone that we were a couple. Sara tried telling me that all she wanted was a socially accepted boyfriend. I had rich parents, a nice car, and was accepted in the social circle.
The sex hadn't gotten any better with Sue. Sara and I talked less and less. She dated a few guys in our senior year, but she didn't seem interested in our friendship even after I stopped seeing Sue Bellmont.
Well, I did end up getting accepted into Marquette. I got a great scholarship even though I didn't need it. Like I said, I had rich parents. Sara signed up for classes at the technical school about 200 miles from home and was preparing to move there. I called her and asked if we could see each other before I had to leave.
We met and talked for hours. When we had put our past behind us, we were sad to part. We promised to keep in touch.
We chatted over the net a couple time a week. I had invited her to come and visit me several times, but she declined. Besides, she would point out, I live in a dorm and she didn't want to stay in a hotel alone.
I offered to drive to the city she was in but she also declined that offer. She had to work her way through school and couldn't afford to take any nights off of work.
I had just finished my last midterm in January, and had considered going home for the break. I had been chatting with Sara and she had sounded pretty down the last couple of weeks. Her end of semester tests were coming up and she was busy with working as well.
I tried inviting myself for a visit saying that she could use a little cheering up. She declined saying that she was doing 'fine'. I didn't believe that for a second. I know her better than that. I'm going and that's is that, I decided.
The weather for the next few days was heavy snow, but I decided to go anyway. My parents had bought me an SUV for graduation so I pointed it in Sara's direction and started sliding my way there.
When I got into her town, I found a hotel and checked in. I took a quick shower and headed to the front desk for directions to the restaurant where Sara worked.
The desk clerk said that I would find much better restaurants nearby, but when I told her I knew someone that worked there, she gave me the directions. I took me 45 minutes to get there between the heavy snow and a few wrong turns.
I entered the nearly deserted diner. I saw a waitress with her back to me cleaning the coffee machine. I walked up behind her and said, "excuse me, can you tell me if Sara is working tonight?"
The waitress stopped what she was doing and froze. All I heard was "Oh, my God... " Slowly Sara turned around.
I was speechless. I didn't recognize her from behind. Her hair was in a net, and she was at least 20 pounds lighter. She took two fast steps and threw her arms around me for a big hug. "What are you doing here!?!" she cried out in joy.
"You've needed some cheering up for some time now and who better to do that than me?" I said.
"You drove from Milwaukee in this weather? I thought college was supposed to make you smarter!" she said with a giggle. "Don't move, I'll be right back" she told me.
She returned with a smile on her face. The cook told her that she could leave in 20 minutes since business was so slow due to the nasty weather. She invited me back to her apartment so we could catch up on what's been happening since she left.
I went next door to the liquor store while she finished her shift and was able to buy some beer without getting checked. I stashed it in my truck and went back in the restaurant and Sara was ready.
We drove to her small house. It looked like at least 100 students had lived there before her. One bedroom, one bathroom and one living/kitchen area. Not much bigger than my dorm room. And right next to the train tracks. We sat there drinking and talking for hours. It was like we were still old friends.