The carnival wasn't even supposed to come to Clover that summer, but somehow fate intervened.
It was also a surprise that such a modest carnival would have such a huge Ferris wheel. Just about every kid in attendance wanted to give it a whirl.
That is where our story picks up, boys and girls, as lovely, young Sarah Michelle Turner and the brash Rusty Longacre shared a cart on the carnival's biggest ride.
"Thanks for going on this with me, Russell," Sarah Michelle told her longtime buddy, sometimes calling him by his formal name. "All of my friends are scaredy cats."
"No, problem," he responded. "I've already been on it like 17 times - there's nothing to it."
Since they had been friends for so long, the two 18-year-olds didn't mind brushing up against each other in such a tightly-fitting compartment, which normally was meant for a boyfriend and girlfriend. They were just buddies, but close.
Sarah Michelle always did find Russell kind of cute, and knew he was a jock, an athletic type with a down-to-earth personality. He was always fun to hang out with.
Sarah Michelle, well, where do we start? Captain of the cheerleading squad. A 4.0 GPA. The hottest girl at Clover High School, class of '84, and for that matter, maybe one of the hottest girls in the entire state of South Carolina. She was headed to Clemson in the fall.
As the Ferris wheel attempted to make its third trip around, and the two youngsters peered out over the entire carnival as the ride met its zenith, a terrible squeak rang out, followed by a loud crack. The ride came to a sudden stop, with Sarah Michelle and Russell at its highest point.
"Oh shit, what was that?" the blonde beauty said, nervously wrapping her hair around her finger.
"It's alright - this happened at Six Flags once," Russell calmed her. "Something minor broke. They'll fix it. We might just be...stuck here for a little while."
As if on cue, the ride operator made an announcement that a small repair had to be made, and that everybody had to sit tight.
Sarah Michelle disgustedly folded her hands over the bar in front of her.
"Great," she said sarcastically.
"Don't worry about it," Rusty told her. "Won't be too long."
"Stupid cheep Ferris wheel," the cheerleader said angrily. "Should have just gone on the bumper cars."
As they watched the lucky people in the lower carts be helped off the ride, the two kids in the highest cart started to daydream.
"We could use this time to catch up," Rusty said jokingly.
Sarah Michelle smiled.
Rusty, with some prodding, talked a little about what classes he was taking at the local community college in the fall, and Sarah Michelle was more than glad to talk more about Clemson.
As they looked down and realized that the ride operator was not doing anything, signifying that he was waiting for maintenance to come with a part or something, the two kids realized they were going to be stuck a long time. So they should try to make it interesting.
"Your thighs are massive," Rusty said as he looked down at her tan beauties, one crossed over the other.
It was something he was thinking all along, and now he finally said it out loud. Sarah Michelle did have big, sexy thighs, and because she was wearing such a skimpy pair of white shorts on a 90-degree day like this, they were that much more on display. She was initially caught off guard by Rusty's comment about them.
"I don't mean they're fat or anything," he said, a little embarrassed that his fixation with her thighs was now out in the open. "They're just...big. Really nice...sexy."
She smiled, kind of amused he was stumbling over his own words.
"Oh, God, I've made this little dilemma so much more awkward now," he said, staring up at the sky.
"Don't worry about it, Russell," she laughed, rubbing his arm. "And thank you for the compliment."
Now seemingly just to tease him, she shifted her position in the small cart so that her thighs were that much more in Rusty's view.
"Cheerleading has really built these babies up," she said, repeatedly slapping her outer left thigh for emphasis.
"I'll say," he said, nearly drooling.
She giggled at his fascination with them.
"Oh God, when the fuck are we gonna get off this thing," the young, sexy blonde muttered in a irritated tone, just to vent her frustration a bit.
"Can't be any longer than...an hour, two at the most," Rusty said with apprehension, not wanting to annoy his female companion any more.
As the two kind of surrendered to the moment, and realized they were going to be stuck there far longer than they wanted to be, Sarah Michelle suggested they share some funny rumors about people. The individuals they chose painted a wide tapestry - from teachers to coaches to enemies to best friends.
After some time though, Sarah Michelle had to broach one subject that had been on her mind since the two got on this tiny cart together.
"I heard a rumor about you actually," she said, her light green eyes looking right into his baby blue ones.
"Yeah, what about?" he asked.
She was like a little girl with a secret, all giggles.
"What?" he persisted.
"Well, ya' know," she told him. "Locker room stuff. Stuff that one guy tells another. Then another. And other people find out. Sort of an observation at first and then everybody kind of jokes about it, then it sort of becomes, ya' know, like common knowledge."
Rusty had a nervous feeling in his stomach. He sort of knew where Sarah Michelle might be going with this, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. She was still being kind of vague.
"And for the record, I only heard about this from a friend, who heard it from a friend, who heard it from a sibling," she said, then laughed when she saw Rusty's confused expression.
"Dana heard it from her brother, and then Dana told Lisa, and Lisa told me," she clarified.
"What?" Rusty asked. "What on Earth are you talking about?"
Sarah Michelle took a deep breath, smiled, and then braved forward. She felt so naughty mentioning this piece of information.
"The rumor is," she smiled, "that you're, sort of hung like a moose."
Rusty's mouth dropped open - he was shocked she not only heard this about him, but that she would actually bring it up in conversation. He was overwhelmed with arousal, yet knew he had to keep himself under control.
"You heard that?" Rusty asked modestly.
"Dana's brother said it's e-NOR-mous," Sarah Michelle said, bending over a bit as she had a good laugh. "Said you even don't mind walking about the locker room in the buff, kind of showing it off."
Rusty's face turned a little red. He could feel the blood rushing to it. He did in fact show off in front of the guys, but a girl teasing him about it - that was different, and new.
"Well? Is it just a tall tale?" Sarah Michelle asked him sexily.
He grinned.
