If you have never had a really close friend of the opposite sex, you probably can't understand.
Mary was my friend, we grew up together, fighting and playing and getting muddy and into trouble.
There was a wide spot down at the nearby creek, Mary and I would sneak down there and go swimming.
We weren't supposed to, both of our Mom's had warned us, or rather pretty much ordered us to stay out of there unless an adult was present.
But they were busy all the time doing things, and the swimming hole was a half mile away. So we sneaked down there all the time in the Summer months, it was fun.
Mary's chubby little body made the darndest splashes when she would roll up into a cannonball, leap off the old dock and hit the water next to me.
I was skinny as it is possible for a 10 year old to be, about all I could manage was a little plop.
Mary was probably 12 or so when I noticed her chest was getting swollen. I also spotted some hair growing between her legs, so I teased her about it with no mercy.
She glared at me, but that was the end of the swimming hole trips.
I soon figured out why from the other kids, my Mom just wouldn't talk about things like that.
Things happened to me, too. My Dad got the job of explaining most of it to me.
For one thing, I got tall, all the way to almost six feet, Mary just stopped growing at about 5 feet, heck, she was that tall when she was 11.
Still, we ran around together, played, did our studies together. I nearly always got a "B" grade and she almost always got an "A", a never ending source of frustration for me.
I took my irritation out at track, one thing I could do was run like the wind. I broke all sorts of school records, ran 2nd in the mile at State and I won State in the half mile and quarter mile run.
Mary was there that day, in fact, she was always there. She gave me a big hug after I managed to cool down, it hit me that she was still a little thick in the body, but she was a long ways from being fat. Her big chest mashed against me and for a few days it was all I could think of, it felt kind of good.
Mary went off to college, so did I. But it was different schools. I found myself missing her.
Then in my junior year I was walking towards a class when I heard her voice. She came running, hugged me and kissed me. I stepped back, I almost would not have recognized her unless she spoke.
The transformation was amazing!
Here was this lithe, beautiful young woman, well dressed and just...just...beautiful. I stood there and stumbled over my words as she smiled, knowing the effect she was having on me.
Mary had transferred to the same school as me, not because of me but because of some programs she was taking.
We went right back to being buds, just like that. Mary would pop in at my tiny apartment, we would head down to the corner and share a milkshake, sometimes we got our heads together and cooked dinner for ourselves.
We were both in the same boat money-wise, I was pumping gas at a payless and she was stuffing Big Macs in sacks for people.
Anything to pay the next semester, we both got a dab of money from home but it wasn't nearly enough. I had a small stipend for my track but winning everything at our 60 person high school was one thing, winning at the college level was something else.
My 4.30 mile was quickly a 6-7th place and I was filling out, gaining weight.
I was getting slower, not faster. The odds were high I wouldn't even make the team the next year.
So both of us were always broke.
Then came the annual beach party, it was a big deal. We all went down to a nearby seaside resort for spring break, and it was supposed to be one heck of a party.
I had never been to one, instead investing my time working and putting away much needed dollars. Besides, I had no girlfriend, I had no time or money for that.
So it surprised me when Mary said she wanted to go and she wanted me to go with her. It seems her grandmother had left her some cash, it wasn't much but it was enough to cover the motel room and the bus trip.
Mary even bought a bathing suit, I was there when she opened the package.
"Are you really going to wear this?" I asked her, holding up a piece of string and tiny patch of cloth. It was white, there just wasn't much to it.
"Yes, that is the style now."
I just grinned.
"Don't bend over very far in it." I told her.
She blushed and took a fake poke at me, then went into my bathroom to try it on.
"Oh, shit!" I heard her say.
"What's wrong?"
"I didn't try it on, it doesn't...It's not.."
"Let's see." I said.
Mary came out wearing her shorty T-shirt and the bottoms, I started laughing which pissed her off. Her full brown bush stuck out both sides, there was no way in the world she could wear it like that.
"Looks like you need to trim some brush or take that back."
"I can't take it back, it was off the sale rack and there are no returns."
"It cost me $40.00! She wailed.
"You could just shave some, maybe get waxed?" I told her, feeling a bit odd with her standing there almost naked.
"God, they charge $60.00 for that!"
"Maybe get some guy to help, I bet they wouldn't charge you." I snickered.
She looked at me for a few seconds.
