Here is a short, 4,250-word story for
Literotica Valentine's Day Contest 2021
. Thanks to Shygirlwhore for giving it a read, doing some editing, and laying some advice on this old guy.
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Because It was my senior year, the town's Valentine's Day dance tonight was going to be extra special. For at least the next four years, this will be the last Valentine's Day dance I can attend. So I bought a new suit and had red roses delivered to my date. Today is Friday the 13th, and the dance starts at 7:00. Why is the dance on Friday the 13th? Because the dance has always been held at Dentine County's Rental Pavilion. A 150-foot by 100-foot venue, it was rented out on Saturday the 14th for a wedding.
Awful big for a dance, you say? Well, let me tell you a story, everyone who can walk, come using crutches, or roll in a wheelchair, comes to this dance. Since there is no city tax in Dentine, Texas, population 4,153, this fundraiser covers up a big chunk of the city's annual expenses.
There were picnic tables around the Pavilion for eating barbecue with all the fixings, for an 'all you can eat' price. Ten Chef's had half a dozen smokers, cooking every kind of barbecue ever invented, to keep a hungry crowd happy.
So then you might say, awful big venue for a wedding, and I'd answer, we do everything big in Texas.
Now let me tell you my tale, sad at first but happy in the end. My name is William Robert Wagner, yea I know, Billy Bob. Tonight my date is Becky Anne Childers, my on-again, off-again girlfriend. Since the fourth grade, she has kept me as her yo-yo, keeping me in heat for her kisses, pushing me away when it suits her.
Lately, it's been off again, but she did say yes when I asked her on Christmas Day to go with me to the dance. Her daddy had a big grin on his face, but Becky's mom had a look in her eyes like she was watching a plane crash coming right at her. Before I could ask anything, Becky said yes and began swabbing my tonsils with her tongue. That girl could cause amnesia with her kisses.
So the big day came, and I was to arrive at Becky's house by 7:00, and we were going to the dance in a limo with school friends. I contributed $75 toward the rental. Becky had the tickets I bought at $100 a piece because I was a little forgetful at times. I'm telling you; it was because of Becky's kisses that I forget things. Anyway, my daddy dropped me off at Becky's fifteen minutes early and went home to get my mama. She wasn't ready when I needed to leave because she's always late. I did not say that out loud, mama.
Becky's mom answered the door, and I said, "Good evening, Mrs. Childers. Is Becky ready?"
"Better come inside now, Billy Bob."
She motioned for me to sit. "I have to tell you a story, Billy Bob. You won't like it, but it's time you stopped drooling after that girl I'm ashamed to call my daughter."
Well, now, that didn't sound too good.
"You remember, all those times she dumped you but acted like she was busy, had to study, wasn't feeling good? That's when she was running around with Carl Hayes, or Jimmy Jennings, or Ryan Smith. Ryan graduated last year and enrolled at UTEP. When she blew you off New Year's Eve, and New Year's day, she was in El Paso with Ryan. The only reason she said yes to the dance tonight was so you'd buy the tickets, and she could take Ryan. The limo was extra. She knows that after tonight, you won't have anything to do with her anymore, and she doesn't care."
"She must hate me a lot." I wasn't going to cry in front of Mrs. Childers, but it wasn't easy holding my emotions in.
"Are your parents at the dance? If they are, you're welcome to stay here in the apartment above the barn. Mr. Childers has the car but should be home by breakfast from his meeting in Dallas."
I stood up and headed out the door. "No, thank you, Ma'am. I have a lot to think about, and it's such a nice night, I need to walk. It's only fifteen miles to my home." I turned to hug her and said, "Good night."
"Good night Billy Bob." So I started my journey home, feeling sorry for myself and angry at the world. My brain was sorting through every time Becky blew me off that I could remember, and the reason why. Boy, was I blind and clueless? Monday, I'm going to be the butt of all jokes at school. Every day until I graduate, all the jokes, pranks, and nasty remarks, will be focused on me. If I were eighteen, I'd enlist in the marines tomorrow.
So I trudged home, thinking of my options. Instead of going to the University of Texas, I could go elsewhere. Penn State offered me a full-ride Academic Scholarship in Computer Science and Programming. I know more than a few people who will be going to Texas, but I don't know anyone going to Penn State.
I was halfway home at the crossroads of Rte. 6218 and Dentine Rd, when I saw lights flickering through one window of the old Davis house. Mrs. Davis died from a heart attack six months ago, after hearing Mr. Davis died in a car accident in Oklahoma. A new family had moved in this week, as the father would be the new general manager at the refinery outside town. I squinted, and the light was brighter but still flickering.
FIRE! My training as a volunteer at the fire station kicked in.
I started running as I dug my phone out of my back pocket and dialed. "911, what's your emergency?"
"Fire at the old Davis place, corner of Rte. 6218 and Dentine Rd. There's a station wagon parked out front, so the new people must be in there."
"What's your name, hon," The dispatcher asked me?
"It's Billy Bob, Billy Bob Wagner." There are a lot of Billy Bob's in the Dentine area.
"Don't go into the house. Wait for the Fire Department," was the dispatcher's response.
"I can't wait, ma'am," I told her as I dropped my phone on the hood of the car. I ran onto the porch and kicked the front door in. To my left, the living room and kitchen were fully involved, with flames running up the walls and across the ceiling. To my right were three bedrooms and a bathroom, all opening into a long hall. I knew all this because I'd been in this house before when Mrs. Davis made me pies for helping out around her yard. Smoke was building up on this side of the house, and when I went through the first bedroom door, the parents were stumbling out of bed. I made my way over to the side window and pulled it up. Thick paint was making it stick, but I got it up enough for the man and woman to slip through.
"Get your wife out. Any kids?" I asked the husband.
"THREE, two in the middle room." He pushed his wife through the window. "And one in the last room!" He yelled this at me, coughing and hacking from the smoke in his lungs.
"Follow your wife; I need you outside. I'll get them, I promise. Go."
I went out the door and shut it. The bathroom was next, so I turned the water on in the sink and grabbed towels. Soaking the water up with three towels, I wrapped one around my nose and mouth. After leaving the bathroom, I found the next door locked, so I kicked it in. The two kids in this bedroom were over by the window, coughing and crying. I gave each a towel and told them, "Cover your mouth and nose and breathe through the towel." Without hesitation, I flipped the lock on the window and pulled the window up so hard the frame broke. The window fell into the side yard and smashed the glass.
I grabbed a child and passed her out to her father. The second child, a boy, followed. I didn't hesitate but moved as fast as my feet would take me, through the doorway and turning to my right, toward the last door. The smoke was so thick now, I had to feel for the doorknob to open the door. After I entered the bedroom, I shut the door and felt for the bed. Finding it with my knee, I checked, and no one was in it. Dropping to my knees, I felt around me as I moved toward the sidewall. I felt a body, it was a girl, and she wasn't breathing. I was right in front of the window, so I attempted to open the window with one hard upward pull. As I strained to push up the window, a sharp pain went from my left shoulder down to my elbow, and I collapsed to the floor. Crap, I must have torn something. I hadn't bumped into anything I could use to break a window, so carrying her over to the middle bedroom seemed like my only choice.
I struggled to stand up, and the pain in my left arm tried to make me give up, but I didn't quit. I was able to lift her in my arms and stumble to the door. It felt hot, so I stood to the side and opened it. Flames blew through the door opening but quickly retreated. I staggered out the door and up the hallway to the middle bedroom. When I got to the window and looked out, they were all kneeling and crying, looking through the last window.
"Hey, a little help here." I croaked.
Screaming, they all staggered over to me. I handed the girl to her father and climbed or fell out the window. I couldn't rest because I knew she wasn't breathing. I crawled over to her father, who was holding his daughter and crying while her mother was screaming, "No." I yanked her away from her father, tilted her head back, and began giving her CPR. I breathed into her mouth twice, followed by 30 chest compressions. Check for pulse and repeat. Check and repeat. She coughed after the third round, and I felt for and found a pulse. I thought I heard sirens, and I could swear I saw Mrs. Davis smiling and nodding her head before I started to blackout.
Falling on my back, I could hear voices, and one of them said, "Isn't that Billy Bob Wagner? Why isn't he at the dance with Becky?"
An EMT placed an oxygen mask over my face as I tried to stay awake, "Didn't you hear what she did to him? She..." and I blacked out. Hell, I didn't need to live through that again.
When my eyes opened again, I was in an ambulance, on the road to Den/Tox hospital. It was halfway between Dentine and Nitrox, Texas, hence the name.
"Hey, Billy Bob. How are you feeling? It's me, Missy. You know, Jimmy's wife."
Jimmy? Oh, yea, Jimmy, my brother who's in the army, serving in the sandbox in Iraq.
"I called Mom and dad, and they'll meet us at the hospital."
