Tony Harris sat of the beach with his buddy, Jim Gallagher. They'd just finished surfing a few sets and were watching the other surfers. The sun was about an hour from setting, and the light gleamed from the ocean's surface like a million flickering fires.
"Take a look at that babe," Jim said, pointing to one of the surfers. She had a rocking body and wasn't wearing the familiar wetsuit, but a bright yellow bikini instead. The sunlight gleamed on her long limbs, and she had the look of a long time surfer, fit and slender, with lean muscle. Tony nodded.
The girl finished her ride and walked to the beach through the small breakers, her yellow short board under her arm. Jim blew out a breath when she stopped a few yards away and planted her board. She picked up a towel from the sand and toweled her hair vigorously, her firm breasts jiggling pleasantly.
"Bra," Jim said quietly, "take a look at those tits! I could die happy with my face buried in those. And that body, those legs! Man, I gotta meet that girl."
She finished toweling and shook out her long, dirty blonde hair, the wet, ropy strands falling to her shoulder blades. She looked at the boys then and smiled coquettishly, her light blue eyes sparkling. "Fucking goddess," Jim whispered.
She threw her towel over her shoulder and hefted her board under her arm, beginning the trek up to the parking lot. She was looking at the well muscled bodies of the boys and smiling, having always enjoyed the look of a fit, muscular body in board shorts. "Hey Tony," she said as she passed, her voice soft and kittenish.
Jim turned to watch her go, amazed that his friend knew the hot girl. Her hips swayed seductively as she negotiated the sand, her firm, round ass barely covered by her low-rise bikini bottom. "Fuck, Tony! You know that girl?"
Tony was still looking out across the surf at the other surfers. He smiled, not looking at Jim or the retreating beauty. "Yeah," he said, "That was Erin."
*****
Tony had been thirteen when he'd met Erin Bradshaw, on the first day of seventh grade. He'd just moved to the small beach community from Austin, and the few kids he'd met had quickly nicknamed him Tex, because of his accent. He had been small for his age, and not very intimidating. He hadn't grown into his face, and it looked like his nose and jaw were too big. His eyes were dark, almost black, like the short curls on his head.
He'd gone into his Science/Biology classroom and taken a seat near the back of the first row of large, black topped tables. Seated directly across from him was a girl with honey tanned skin and straight blonde hair with streaks of darker brown. She had boobs! She was talking to the girl who sat next to her, a short, kind of dumpy girl with glasses who's only purpose on Earth seemed to Tony to be to make the other girl look even more angelic.
"Hi, I'm Tony," he said to the blue eyed beauty when she turned to face him. She wore a yellow shirt with lace around the sleeves and collar. She giggled and her nose wrinkled when she said, "You sound like a cowboy."
Tony felt his ears get hot, and the girl said, "I'm Erin, and this is my friend Valerie." Valerie looked at Tony disinterestedly, supremely unimpressed.
"I'm pleased to meet you," Tony said as a broad smile lit up his face, and Erin giggled again.
"I like you," she said, and then turned back to resume her conversation with Valerie.
*****
Erin had barricaded the door to the instrument room. It smelled of rosin and leather, from all of the instrument cases, and she leaned hard on the door with both palms flat against the pressed wood.
She'd gotten used to the boys snapping her bra straps, even copping a feel once in a while, but Jonny and Earl were bad news. They liked to grab her an pin her between their tall bodies, grabbing her and sometimes hurting her. They'd chased her into the Band/Orchestra room and had trapped her there. She could hear them pacing outside the door, and jumped whenever one of them punched it.
"What'cha doin'?" she heard a familiar drawl outside, in the main classroom. She'd made friends with Tony, the new boy she sometimes called Cowboy a year and a half before. He was really cute, and he'd grown almost a foot in the last six months and was starting to get kind of cute.
She knew he liked to look at her because she caught him looking often, but Tony wasn't creepy about it like some boys were. They'd look away or pretend they weren't looking. Tony would just smile and wave to her, his friend. She thought about his smile and felt the fluttery butterflies in her tummy, and smiled herself.
"We've got a girl in there and we're gonna have some fun," Jonny's voice said.
"Leave her alone," Tony said, his voice cracking and rising.
"You can have some too," Earl's deep voice said, "when we're finished." Tears filled Erin's eyes. She turned and leaned her back against the door.
She heard the sound of a scuffle and someone shouted, then there was a crash and someone screamed. Oh no! Erin clawed at the lock on the door. They were hurting Tony! She pulled the door open and rushed into the classroom, stopping short and looking around.
The black metal music stands had been knocked over and the far door stood open. Sitting on the piano seat was Tony, and he was smiling at her softly. His mouth was bleeding, but he didn't seem to notice. She ran to him and touched the split on his lower lip, her butterflies swirling and raging within her. Her arms closed around him and she hugged him hard.
Jonny had gotten a black eye and Earl had lost a tooth in the brawl, and while neither was particularly friendly to either Tony or Erin, neither of them ever snapped her bra or even touched her again.
*****
They were alone together in the back of Tony's crappy old van. He was laying on his stomach on the thick comforters thrown there for cushioning, and Erin stroked her fingers across the hard muscles of his back, soothing him. Her long legs were crossed, perhaps not the most modest of positions considering the tightness of her cotton short shorts, but she was alone with Tony, so it wasn't like anybody'd be trying to catch a glimpse of anything.
"I can't believe she broke up with me," Tony whined for the gazillionth time. Erin sighed and continued to rub her friend's back. She knew Valerie, had known her since the third grade, and she had always liked her. When Valerie had blossomed in their junior year, she had finally gotten the courage to go out with Tony, and they had dated for nearly six months.
Erin had no idea why Valerie would have broken up with Tony. He was smart and funny and handsome as all get out, with hard muscles and a gentle nature. Hell, Erin often thought, I'd grab him up for myself if he wasn't, well, Tony.
Tony and Erin had broken all of the conventions of their society, being two of the popular, beautiful people, they loved each other deeply and were best friends but had never even kissed. They were buds. They played touch football and beach volleyball. They even surfed together! The fact that they hadn't slept together simply astounded those who knew them, and was frequently disbelieved by those who didn't.
Erin ran her fingers through Tony's thick black curls and marveled that any girl would want to break up with such a great guy.
*****
