All persons in this story were at least eighteen years of age at all times cited in the story.
***
Claire was a little bit ahead of Ethan as they came out of the woods at the end of his street. She could have ridden her bicycle faster on the asphalt than she had on the rocky dirt trail behind her but she slowed instead. Ethan blew by her as he came out of the woods and furiously pedaled for home. It was only a few houses down the street to Ethan's house, and although she tried to catch him he won the impromptu race.
"I win," he said.
"Not fair," she said, "nobody said we were racing."
Nobody had, but she had known exactly what he was going to do. She had intentionally paused, that way he could win, but she could give a good show of trying. He could honestly say he won. She could honestly say that she had tried really hard to win, and that she honestly believed that she would have won had they started simultaneously.
Honesty was very important to Claire, both her father and her oldest sister were ministers. But while dad had gone to a real seminary, Eva had merely answered a multiple choice test given by mail. Or something like that, Claire thought. At least that gave her some ammunition, she teased her big sister about missing "Question number three, who is Saint Thomas' step-son?" She loved Eva, but felt totally intimidated by her.
Claire loved Ethan too. He never made her feel small or unworthy, he just took his time and explained things. People said that she was a "gearhead" or a "tomboy," but they didn't get it. What it really was... It was the fact than Ethan made whatever he was doing seem interesting to her, and he was always happy to have her along for the trip.
"Do I get a prize?" he asked.
"Whaddya want?"
He reached over and kissed kissed her on the lips. To do so he had to pull down her kerchief, exposing her lips. It was about the only part of her that was not filthy. The rains had just ended and the trails were muddy, but the temperature was nice. In a couple months when they both graduated from "Billy Goat High," and summer began they would be really dusty, and hot.
They learned their bikes against the galvanized pipe railing on the basement steps and walked down the concrete stairs. The first room inside was a huge work space but straight back was a bathroom with a shower. Hot water, soft towels and the dress she had worn to school today were there. Ever the gentleman, Ethan let her go first. He even picked up the clothes she threw on the floor, putting them in her tiny gym bag.
As she lathered, rinsed and repeated washing the mud and sweat from her body she wondered what it would be like to have him lathering her naked body. Maybe she would find out when he took her to College Station with him in the fall. He had promised to take her. Actually it was just about seven years ago that he promised to take her with him whenever he left the little plateau town of Edwards Texas.
She would have invited him in the shower with her today, but his parents were upstairs right now. She didn't know if they would come down. They never had before, but Claire really worried about what everyone else thought. She knew it was obsessive and unhealthy, but she couldn't help herself. Ethan was really the only person who had never asked her to be different than she was.
She turned off the water and drew back the curtain. She reached out, grabbed a soft fluffy towel and began to dry herself. Ethan was standing, facing away from her holding her mostly red print summer dress on a hanger. Holding it far out from his body to keep it clean. She took it from him and she said,
"Ethan Saunders, you are still planning on marrying me, aren't you?"
"You know the answer to that question," he said.
"Then turn around. Unless you don't want to."
He turned to face her, she was naked holding her dress in one hand. She smiled as he told her that she was the most beautiful woman on earth. Claire thought that statement either proved that kindness was more important than honesty to Ethan, or that maybe he needed glasses.
She made a little show out of putting it on in front of him. It was going to feel quite naughty going upstairs and having dinner with his family sans bra and panties. But her dress was not too short, and she was not so endowed. Besides, her underwear were far too dirty to put back on.