By Millie Teases, with thanks to Ben
When Ben came home from college after his freshman year he was a little in shock. In high school he'd always been one of the brighter kids -- not top of the class or anything, but a good student. Everybody in college was like him -- bright, intelligent, smart -- and he didn't really stand out all that much.
One area that really got his attention was that he didn't stand out at all with the women. Just like in high school, all the women seemed to want to date either the older guys or the guys that were aggressive jerks. Ben wasn't either -- in fact he was kind of shy, really. And there wasn't anybody like Jessica there to coach him either. In high school she'd always motivated him and reassured him that he was attractive to women -- even if the ones in their school did pretty much ignore him.
He and Jessica had known each other for what seemed like forever. They were friends -- and that's all. They'd both had thoughts about each other, but they never went anywhere with them. The thing both of them worried about, although they never said a word about it to each other, was that after sex, well, sex changed things -- it either improved love or killed it. Neither of them was willing to take the risk. And Jessica, well, Jessica had a boyfriend during high school, and it wasn't him.
Jessica hadn't gone to college. Her folks had put some money away, but the economy had gotten bad, and her dad's business wasn't doing that well, so she'd decided to stay home and work and save up the money to pay for radiology school on her own. It was a tough decision, but she knew it was the right one for her family.
Still, most of her friends left for college and it seemed pretty much like she was alone most of the time. And then the problem, of course, was that it was a really little town and there wasn't much to do. And when the asshole broke up with her, well, then there was even less to do.
About the middle of every June, after the schools closed for the summer, everyone on their block had a big barbecue. They'd drag a bunch of grills into someone's back yard, and the dads would cook, and some years they even barbecued a pig. It was a big deal -- everyone brought stuff, and people all were out in the yards and the kids all ran around and stuff. The best part of it this year, Ben thought to himself as he was getting ready for it, was that he'd get to see Jessica again.
Once he went out and started wandering around a little it didn't take long for him to find her. Jessica was running around with a camera, taking pictures of everybody like she always did. She'd get folks to pose for her, or get the kids to do goofy stuff. She'd even hide sometimes and take kind of candid shots. A couple of times over the years she'd gotten pictures of stuff she shouldn't -- like the year before last when she climbed up a tree and looked over a fence to see Mrs. Smith with her top pulled down and her skirt pulled up and Mr. Abercrombie kneeling in front of her licking her. She was on about the fourth picture before she realized what really was happening. Those pictures go erased pretty fast.
When Ben walked up to her she took a bunch of shots of him. He was a little surprised, but not totally. You couldn't always predict what Jessica was going to do.
"Hey there buddy, how's it going?" she asked him. She looked great -- her hair was brown again -- she'd died it blond for a while -- and straight, hanging just past her shoulders. She was wearing sandals, jeans and a white linen top that left her shoulders bare except for two little straps. It had a keyhole cutout between her breasts and when Ben glanced at it he noticed her bra was pink.
"Stop looking at my boobs, perv," she teased him when she noticed where he was looking.
Ben blushed.
"It's ok," she said quickly. "I'm just teasing."
"Ok," Ben replied.
"So, really, how have you been?" Jessica asked.
"Ok, I guess. I'm glad to see you again."
"It's good to see you, too," she replied. "It's been really boring around here."
"I guess," Ben replied. "I'm kind of glad to be home."
"Was college tough?"
"Yeah," Ben said. "Everybody's really smart and it took me a while to get used to living in the dorm and having to study without Mom yelling at me to buckle down and stuff. I survived. How about you? How's working at Dr. Smith's office?"
"It's ok, I guess. I'm saving some money, anyway. I mean, I just greet the patients and answer the phone and stuff, but I'm learning a little about how doctors work. It could be worse, I guess."
"I guess. So what else have you been doing?"
Jessica got quiet for a minute. "You heard about the asshole, didn't you?"
"Umm, yeah, kind of," Ben replied.
"That son-of-a-bitch was cheating on me almost the whole time we were going out. I caught him with Tiffany right after Thanksgiving. It turned out he'd been having sex with her for almost a year, and with others before that."
"That sucks, I'm really sorry," Ben said quietly.
"I gave him my virginity," Jessica said. "I thought I was going to marry him. That fucker."
"Geez, Jessica, watch your mouth, old Mrs. Harrison almost heard you."
Jessica looked around, blushing. "I'm sorry," she said. "It just makes me so mad."
"I understand," Ben said.
They didn't say much for a while after that, but just walked around the neighborhood sampling the different food folks had made and taking pictures. They both felt it was good to be back together. They wandered around and laughed when they got to the tree where Jessica had learned about one of the neighborhood affairs. Ben was the only person Jessica had ever told about what she had seen. They climbed up the tree, giggling, to see if anything was going on the yard this year. It was empty.
They climbed back down and talked and wandered and took pictures and got comfortable with one another again. They hadn't really talked to each other at all since Ben had left for college the August before. Ben was getting really comfortable being back, and being with Jessica.
"There's that look," Jessica said to him when they'd stopped in her back yard and were sitting on a bench on the patio. They were alone. She took a picture.
"What look?" Ben asked.
"That sweet look you have that would convince just about any woman to go out with you," she replied.
"Well, if I have a look like that it sure didn't work at school."
"Oh please," she said. "I bet lots of girls were after you. Tell me the truth Ben, you dated a bunch, didn't you?"
"Not at all, not really. I went out a few times with groups from the dorm, but that was it."
"Really?' she asked, with a strange look on her face.
"Really. And there was definitely no one like you."
"Yeah, like I've been going out a lot. Asshole broke up with me, everyone went off to college, and I've been here all alone for the last eight months. John Wiley made a pass at me in the doctor's office a couple of months ago, but god, he's pushing 30. I'd never date someone like him."