I was fourteen the first time I saw her. I got on the school bus and took the only seat left. It was next to her. I was nervous about sitting next to a girl and I was about half afraid of her. I knew nothing about girls. I sat nervously beside her all the way to school and breathed a big sigh of relief when we got off the bus.
When the final bell rang, I raced out to the bus stop, intent on finding a seat by myself. But when she got on the bus, she plopped down right next to me even though there were plenty of other seats. I squirmed all the way home.
Somehow she made sure to sit beside me every time we rode the bus. It took me a week to ask her what her name was. "I'm Laura Banfield," she replied. "What is your name?"
"Allen Biggs," I stuttered, turning red. "Why do you always sit beside me?"
"I think you're kind of cute and I like you."
I noticed for the first time that she was cute too. After a month or so, I got used to sitting beside her. In fact, I kind of liked it. Two weeks later we were riding home and she reached over and took my hand in hers. She squeezed it. I looked at her and she smiled so I guess she was happy.
I found out where her house was and brought her a Christmas present. She giggled and said, "Come in and have some hot chocolate."
She opened her present and squealed, "Oh Allen, a necklace! Put it on me! Put it on me!"
I fumbled with the clasp and finally got it around her neck. She turned around and hugged me so I hugged her back. We stood like that for a moment and then she let me go.
"Does this mean you want to be my boyfriend?" she asked quietly.
"Uh, yeah, I guess, I mean yes, yeah, uh, yes." I croaked. I should have known right then and there that I was sunk.
She squeezed me again and kissed my cheek. We were officially an item.
I got my driver's license when I was sixteen. I had saved up enough money to buy an old clunker car. Laura and I spent many weekends getting it ready for the road. Our bus days were over. I picked her up every day before school and brought her back after school.
Over the next two years we tried some of the kissing techniques we saw on television but we never got down to sex. We didn't even feel each other up. Our friends also gave us information, some of it true, some of it totally false. I was in love with her, but I didn't tell her. I lived in a frustrating kind of hell until we were eighteen. I was afraid she would slap me or scream or run away if I told her how I felt. Little did I know that I was much more scared than she was.
I got a part time after school job and in two more years, I had saved enough to get a better ride. It wasn't new but it was a vast improvement over my old junker. She always snuggled up next to me when we were driving.
We were both turned eighteen and were getting ready to graduate from High school. The night of her eighteenth birthday, I took her to a good restaurant and then to the drive-in movies. For the first time, we sat in the dark together and made out. We had learned that French kissing happened everywhere, not just France. She took my hand and placed it on her breast. I gently squeezed her breast through her dress. When the lights came on for intermission, I decided to take the plunge. I looked into her eyes and said, "I'm in love with you Laura. I think I've been in love with you since you held my hand the first time on the bus."
I waited anxiously for her reply. Finally she said, "I've been waiting for you to confess. I have known for a long time that you were in love with me. I am in love with you too. What do you plan on doing about it?"
"I want to do some of the other things we've heard about." I slipped my hand under her bras and squeezed her naked breast. "We graduate in two weeks. After graduation, I'm going to marry you."
"Is that a proposal?'
"I guess it is. Will you marry me?"
