I met her because the car broke down…if the car had been running, I would not have needed to take the bus. It was the summer after my graduation from high school and I was doing the fast food job thing to pay for my beer, guitar strings and the constant repairs needed by my ’73 Datsun. Since my “band” actually spent more money then we made, the burger joint job was a necessity. Therefore I found myself on the bus to the mall, wearing brown polyester pants and a white t shirt, sweating and basically looking at my absolute most dweebish, which is quite an accomplishment when you are a 5’11” 160 pound glasses-wearing teenager with long stringy red hair. Because of this I had no illusions that she would sit next to me.
I noticed her as we pulled up to the stop of course. What guy my age would not notice her? She was right about my age and had the kind of body that eighteen year olds don’t not notice. Her hair was long and brown and framed a cute rounded face that had an almost elfin look to it. But even as I thought about how great she looked I was dismissing my chances. I was actually quite shy around girls and the only time I ever showed any confidence was with a six-string in my hands. My friends would tell me that so and so liked me or something to that effect but I almost never believed them. Sure I got some looks when we would play a party or something but I always thought it was just because of my playing. After all, the lead singer gets all the girls, right? So I put my head back down into my book of Jim Morrison poetry and forgot all about the looker that was stepping up towards the driver and paying her fare.
“Hi, can I sit here?” said the voice, as I looked back up with surprise.
“ Sure, “ I stammered, “ if you don’t mind the company.”
She smiled and slid down into the seat beside me, “ I really would rather sit back here than up front with the old ladies and besides I think I know you, “ she said. “ Aren’t you the lead guitar player for Assassination? I saw you guys at Trisha’s party out by Lake Jennings last week and I thought you were just great….”
I suddenly realized that this gorgeous brunette goddess was actually acting like she was nervous to be talking to me, rather than the other way around. “ Yeah, that’s me,” I said, feeling a little comfortable to be talking about a safe subject, “but I think that was more like two or three weeks ago wasn’t it?”
“ I thought it was you,” she said. Her smile got wider and showed a little hint of teeth. “ You’re really very good, you know. We all thought so.”
“Thanks, I admit to being pretty proud of my chops but I’m surprised I don’t remember seeing you, I mean, someone as prett…err, an attractive girl like you I mean.” Damn it! C’mon Lance, I think she might actually like you, just spit it out! “What I mean is…. I just think…I’m sorry,” I stammered, “I don’t talk well but you know what I mean, ya know?”
“ I think I catch your drift,” she said with a mischievous smile. “I’m not surprised you didn’t see me. I had just broke up with my boyfriend and I was feeling a little down so I kinda hung back a bit. Anyway, my name is Gena, with an “e” not an “i”, what’s yours?”
“ I’m Lance…”
For the next half hour I mostly managed to keep my foot out of my mouth and sound somewhat intelligent. We even exchanged phone numbers when I got off at the mall. I told her I would call her when I got off work. That was the longest 6-hour shift ever!
Eventually it did end and I snagged a ride home from Sandy, who teased me all the way about why I was all smiles. She even leaned over and kissed my cheek, winked and gave me a sly “Good luck” when she dropped me off. Was I really so transparent?
Dad wasn’t home, but that was not a real surprise. He’d had a tendency to stay at his favorite watering hole ‘til closing ever since Mom left. The good news on that was no problems making a phone call this late at night. I dialed while saying a silent prayer that she hadn’t been playing a trick and I was going to get some pizza place or something. The voice I was afraid of not hearing answered the phone. “ Hi, Gena with an e, “ I said, feeling much more confident with the phone as an insulator, “ it’s Lance.”
“ I know that silly,” she giggled, “I was waiting for you….”
One whole month! That was my thought as I pulled up in front of her house to pick up Gena. I’d been dating the girl of my dreams for a whole month! Not just dating, but going together even. It seemed like my whole life was perfect. Beautiful girlfriend, best friend at work who I could bounce ideas off of without seeming like a geek and even rehearsals had been smooth. Sean and Jimmy hadn’t fought about anything in weeks! I noticed her parent’s car was gone so I pulled into the driveway, turned off the engine and grabbed the flowers Sandy had made me buy.
“Believe me Lance,” Sandy had advised, “she’ll like it, even if she did tell you not to make a big deal out of tonight…”
“Hey baby, “ Gena said as she met me at the door, “looks like we have a change of plans…Sean’s mom and dad are making him baby-sit so Janet is gonna keep him company and we’re on our own. Oh, are those for me?” She took the flowers and planted a big kiss right on me. (Thanks, Sandy!) “ My mom and dad went out for dinner so we can do whatever we want.”
“ OK, so what were you thinking,” I asked. Gena took my hand and led me into the house.
“What about just ordering a pizza and snuggling up to watch a movie here, ” she suggested. “Unless you’re afraid of me…….” Here we go again! Gena’s number one game the last couple of weeks had been teasing me about my virginity. So maybe it was a little odd for a guy to be an eighteen-year-old virgin, but I had reasons! It wasn’t like I didn’t want to go there, it was just a matter of priorities and opportunity. But ever since she had figured it out, Gena made it seem like I was scared.
Awright, maybe I was a little shy about it, but I wasn’t scared! My last girlfriend and I had even gone down on each other, an admission that had raised an interesting expression to Gena’s face when I made it, along with that little half grin that had so intrigued me that day on the bus. Gena and I had done some pretty heavy making out and she knew I wanted to go further, but neither of us was overly fond of the back seat bit. Plus my Dad had uncharacteristically been staying home a lot.
Gena had been very open about the fact that she was not new at sex. While she wasn’t a tramp by any means she was also proud that she was not a “tease”. What she meant by that was she didn’t do or say anything she was not willing to follow through to its logical conclusion. We had actually got as far as taking each others tops off last week (God she had awesome tits!) and she had kissed her way slowly down my chest, gently laughing about my “little red curls”.