The next day, when Krissy called and told me she'd gotten her period, immediately became one of the Top 5 happiest moments of my life, just edging out my bar mitzvah. As much as I enjoyed the act of inseminating my girlfriend, I desperately did not want to get her pregnant.
Krissy, on the other hand, was far less pleased.
"Yes, but what are we going to
do
?" she asked, as if a few days without sex was a devastating development.
Fortunately, I already had an idea. A few weeks before, when we'd gone to the town fair, we'd run into my old friend, Adam Kaplan. At the time, I'd made a seemingly empty agreement to hang out at some point in the future. But now seemed like a good time to take him up on his offer.
Adam was an OK guy. We were friends, sure, but it's not like we used to hang out all the time in high school. He was someone I knew from temple, a good guy, but we didn't have a ton in common. A friendship of coincidental geography, mostly.
But he had two very important attributes: One, he was around. That sounds like the bare minimum (and it was) but most of my actual friends had left town long ago. It's one of the reasons my whole social life seemed to orbit around Krissy. There simply wasn't anyone else.
Two, Adam was in a serious, long-term relationship. And if Krissy and I were a couple, then we needed some couple friends. If anything, just to give us something to do when sex wasn't an option. So, with Krissy's reluctant permission, we made plans.
After I was done with work, I drove over to Krissy's camp to pick her up. The place was west of my house, where the suburbs melted into something that could be mistaken for farm land. Nowadays, the area is all developments and McMansions. But back in the day, it was nearly empty, if you can believe it.
The camp, itself, was down a gravel road that wound through bare, undeveloped land till it came to a large, white mansion. Behind it, I could see the outlines of a playground, a ropes course, and a large pool.
There was a curved driveway, so I pulled into that, behind a bunch of parents all waiting to get their kids. I sat in my car, enjoying the A/C and the exhaust fumes, while listening to Mike and The Mad Dog argue about the merits of Todd Hundley.
Finally, a bell gonged loudly three times. An army of children -- boys and girls, none older than nine and all wearing matching white t-shirts -- descended on our line of cars. Running and screaming with abandon. Our quiet existence roared to life as parents jockeyed with each other over who could pick up their kids, then drive away the fastest.
Once all the kids were gone, and the smoke cleared, the counselors started drifting out. I noticed that all of them were women. I thought that was a little odd, but I guessed that was how they rolled at the Christian camp.
I thought I'd see a few familiar faces, but they were all strangers. Finally, I saw a head of golden blonde hair headed my way. Krissy gave me a tired smile as she climbed into my Saturn.
"Abby needs a ride home," Krissy said, punctuating her sentence with an exasperated sigh.
I looked across the passenger window and saw, sure enough, the petite, busty redhead was standing outside my car. She gave me an excited wave, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.
I gave the girl a nod, and she climbed into my backseat.
"Thanks!" she said, jumping in.
Even though Abby was Krissy's age, 19, it felt more like driving her little sister. The whole way, Abby bopped along in the backseat to music, motor-mouthing about her day. I did my best to keep up with the conversation, occasionally interjecting to ask for directions.
"So, what are you two up to?" Abby asked.
As soon as she said it, I realized all the other talk had been warming up to this. The tiny redhead seemed endlessly intrigued by the idea of Krissy and me.
"We're meeting another couple for a movie," I said.
"Oooo, double date," Abby said, "That sounds like fun."
For a moment, I cringed as I waited for her to ask to come along. Fortunately, Krissy cut in.
"Yes, it will be nice to spend time with another couple," she said. Accenting those last two words to make it clear that having a partner was a requirement.
"I bet it's neat," Abby continued, "Sitting in the back of the theater. Holding hands. Kissing."
"I don't think it'll be like that," I said.
"But you guys do that stuff, right?" Abby asked.
Krissy rolled her eyes. Apparently, this was a common line of interrogation from the eager, innocent redhead.
"Yes, Abby," Krissy said with the tone of a tired parent. "We kiss and hold hands and stuff."
'Stuff' covered a lot of sins. I didn't think Krissy would be too happy with me for elucidating further. Instead, I stayed focused on the drive.
"It sounds so dreamy," Abby said, "It must be so nice to be in love."
I gave Krissy a look. She arched her eyebrow my way. "Yes," she said, carefully. "I imagine it must be."
*
We dropped Abby off at a house that looked more like a mansion, a towering edifice set on a grassy hill. Just stopping in front of the house, I felt out of place. Like someone was going to call the cops on my ratter Saturn. Abby said a quick thanks before jumping out of my car and sprinting up her driveway.
Once she was gone, Krissy let out a sigh of relief.
"She's sweet," I said.
"She's a lot," Krissy replied.
Our responsibility disposed of, I drove us through the Watchung Reservation to get to Route 22. It was a stark contrast, going down windy roads past untouched forest, then suddenly turning onto a wild, two-lane road flanked on either side by busy stores. Traffic screamed past us.
They'd built a new multiplex on the eastbound side and (after two mid-highway u-turns and one jughandle) I managed to maneuver us over. As we pulled into the lot, I saw Adam and Gwen waiting for us, shading their eyes in the bright, summer sun.
They made for an odd-looking pairing, the two of them. As I said, Adam was tall and almost scarecrow skinny, his brown curly hair only adding to the sense of his height. Gwen was equally thin, but quite short -- barely five feet. I imagined she needed a stepladder to kiss her long-time boyfriend.
We parked and headed over to meet them. Adam shook my hand. Gwen gave me a quick, chaste hug. She was wearing denim shorts and a striped, sleeveless top. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail.
I'd always thought Gwen was cute. Her mom was Jewish, but her dad was Greek. The strengths of both cultures had combined to create a very attractive (though quite tiny) woman with pink cheeks, expressive green eyes, and a warm smile.
Gwen wasn't gorgeous like Krissy, but her distinctive features gave her a beauty all her own. She and Adam had been together forever, so I hardly considered her an option. But it's always nice to get a hug from an attractive woman.
