A Long Time Coming

It was two months before prom, and I was getting ready to ask Traci to be my date. I know some guys asked their girls as early as three months ahead of the date, but I didn't need to, because Traci was my girl—always was my girl—and prom was a done deal.

Hell, prom was a done deal from the time I was five.

Traci Batson and I were next-door neighbors since her family moved in next to my family when I was five and she was four. We met a couple of days after the family moved in. I was playing by myself in the backyard when I noticed someone come running toward me. I stood up in time as she got to me: a short-haired blonde girl with green eyes and freckles all over her face.

She reached for me and pulled me into a crushing hug. I let her. When we broke apart, she got down on her knees alongside me and started playing with my Tonka trucks. That was it. No fanfare. Best friends forever.

Traci and I didn't play together every day. Sometimes she went off to play with the girls, sometimes I went off to play with the boys, but more often than not it was Traci and me, and others as they came around. I was fully aware that she was a girl, but for some reason I never looked at her the same as I looked at the other girls. Sometimes, other girls had cooties. I don't know why, but Traci never did.

We stayed best friends through elementary, junior high and high school. While other boys and girls were starting to pair off, Traci and I were already a pair. Other couples went on dates, Traci and I just did things together. It wasn't dating. It was just us doing what we always did.

I was 14 and she was 13 when we shared our first kiss, and like everything else for us, it was done easily and without fanfare. We were coming out of an evening movie and I had my arm around her waist, she leaned into me and we kissed. It wasn't a big deal between the two of us, although I knew we both felt something electric. We did a lot more kissing after that.

Our parents seemed to take everything in stride. I was a part of her family and she was a part of mine. I could count on getting yelled at or getting a smack if I misbehaved at her house, and the same thing for her if she misbehaved at mine.

Our friends also took our relationship in stride, maybe because we had always seemed to be together. It was understood in the neighborhood that we were together, and nobody tried to come between us.

Away from the neighborhood it was a different story, and Traci had her share of guys chasing her. She had developed in all the right places, and while I was always concerned that she would find someone she wanted more than me, I never really worried too much because we were US. She was mine and I was hers. End of story—or so I thought.

As always, Traci met me at my car in the parking lot after classes were done. As we were driving home, I glanced sideways and asked where she wanted to go after prom. Silence... five seconds... 10 seconds... 15 seconds. This was not good. I pulled over to the curb as soon as I could find an opening.

Once stopped, I put the car in park and turned my attention completely to Traci, who was starting to tear up and looked like she had just eaten a bag of lemons.

"I... I... I already told Justin Morrow that I would go to prom with him, Stevie," Traci croaked.

For a second I couldn't breathe. I shook my head in disbelief. Then I stared right into Traci's eyes.

"He asked me last month. I thought it would be fun to go with someone different. You know, different guy, different perspective. You know, it's always me and you. What's the big deal?"

"Aaarrrggghhh!"

I thought my head was going to explode.

"What the fuck is going on, Traci? Different perspective? You've got to be fucking kidding me."

She burst into tears. I started to reach for her to comfort her, then common sense slapped me on the side of the head.

"We're us, Traci! WE'RE US!" I screamed. "You're my girlfriend! My girlfriend doesn't go to prom with a different guy just for a different perspective."

"Look, Stevie, I've never been out with a different guy, and you've never been out with a different girl. You know you're going away to college in a few months, and we're both going to have to date other people."

"At the very least, Traci, why didn't you wait until I went away? That would at least have been kindhearted."

Traci mumbled something while she sobbed. I wasn't even listening as I put the car in gear and drove us home.

I grumbled around at home for four days. I didn't go to Traci's house and she didn't come to mine. Neither set of parents was born yesterday.

"So I heard from Joyce that Traci will be going to prom with Justin Morrow. Joyce cried when she told me, Stevie. Anything you want to add?" Mom asked at supper on the fourth day.

Dad raised both eyebrows. My younger sister Ellie squirmed in her chair.

"Only that you and Joyce can stop making wedding plans for us."

"We're sorry, Stevie. Really, we are. You know, if you need to talk..." Dad said.

"Anybody need two tickets to prom?" I inquired, trying to sound like I was making a joke.

Justin Morrow was an acquaintance of mine more than a friend. I didn't have any idea if he knew Traci and I were a couple, but it really didn't matter. If Traci really was mine, she would have told Justin so, not have said yes.

I walked around like a mope for a couple of weeks, then when I was getting out of my car one day after school I heard Allison Warnock giggling about something with several friends. Allison was the younger sister of Laura Warnock, who lived kitty-corner across the street from me and hung in the general group of friends from the neighborhood. Laura had been my friend about as long as Traci had and was probably Traci's second-best friend after me—at least until three weeks previously. Allison was a freshman at our high school, about 5-4, skinny as a rail, with white-blonde hair and totally adorable.

I had known Allison since she was two years old, and we had always gotten along great. She was a bit of a goofball and a bit of a tomboy, and she was often my partner when we did chicken fights on the lawn or in the pool: she was so light that I could carry her one-handed, which gave me the opportunity to use my free hand for the fight, giving our team a distinct advantage. Anyway, up until that moment I had never seen Allison as anything more than a skinny little flat-chested sister, but I'll admit I always had a special place for my chicken-fighting partner. Hell, I already had the tickets, so I made the somewhat awkward ask.

I had called her over away from "The Twins," another couple of 15-year-olds from the neighborhood, and just asked. Her alabaster face turned bright pink and she dropped her eyes to the ground. I know I caught her unawares.

"Shouldn't you be asking my sister since you're not going with Traci? You've been one of her closest friends forever," she said, looking up at my face at the last second.

"No, I should be asking the Warnock girl I really want to go with, and that's you, even if they don't have any chicken fights at prom. I'm not asking you to be Traci's replacement. I'm asking you to go as my friend."

"Can I ask Mom and Dad first? I'd like to go, but until I'm 16 Dad says I have to ask for permission."

"Oh yeah, I don't want Big Ed mad at me," I answered.

Allison's father, Big Ed, was a bear of a man, 6-3, 220 pounds, and nobody with any sense wanted him mad at them. As much as I feared Big Ed, though, I knew the real force in the family was Allison's mother, Barbara, who was every bit the Irish Catholic mom that people read about in lore. God forbid the boy who touched either daughter; Barb would probably rip both ears off and scratch both eyes out of his head.

The phone call came in the evening, and didn't come to me. Barb called straight to the boss: my mom, and I heard Mom assure Barb very pointedly that I would be every bit the gentleman. When Mom gave her word, that was the way it was going to be, which was fine with me.

I didn't even reach my locker the next morning before Laura was in my face pitching a bitch.

"What the hell, Stevie; am I chopped liver? We've been friends forever, we hang out half the time and you ask my little sister to the prom? What gives?" Laura practically shouted at me.

I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Up until a few weeks ago, I was sure I was going to prom with Traci, but apparently, I got that wrong," I related. "After she figuratively kicked me in the nuts, I wasn't going at all. Then I finally decided I was going to go, but strictly to have fun, no attachment. Allison makes me laugh, and I want to laugh. We'll go, we'll have fun and then I'll graduate and go off to school."

Laura gave a small shriek, then inhaled about half of the oxygen in the hallway while everybody watched us. She glared hard at me and then huffed off. I looked at everybody looking at me, shrugged my shoulders and went off to my first class of the day. I guess I was two friends down.

Prom was every bit as good as I could have hoped. Allison looked stunning in her dark blue gown with her hair done up and wearing make-up for the first time. I never once had the urge to toss her up on my back for a chicken fight, but I definitely had the urge to pull her in close for some slow dancing, which I actually did. By the second dance, she melted into my body, and that's how we danced the rest of the night.

Yes, I saw Traci and Justin a few times from a distance during the evening. Yes, she looked beautiful in a fairly body-hugging green gown, and truthfully, Justin looked fairly studly in a black suit. They appeared to be enjoying themselves when I saw them.

Truthfully, though, I didn't try to pay attention to Traci and Justin because I really enjoyed my time with Allison. She was both fun and funny and sexy in a "skinny chick" kind of way. Several times I thought to myself that she was going to grow into a bonafide heartbreaker in the next year or so. I almost wished I could hang around to see that prediction come to fruition.

We went out for a very late breakfast at the local IHOP with several other couples, then I drove us home. I parked in front of my house and walked her across the street to her front stoop. I then manned up and gave her a real good-night kiss, with a little bit of tongue, before she wrapped herself tighter into my arms and pushed her tongue against mine. That accomplished, we did it a second time before I heard stirring behind the Warnocks' front door and figured I should take the hint and walk back home.

The next Saturday morning after prom Traci walked into my house just as she had been doing for years up until two months ago. My mom and I both looked at each other in surprise as Traci came over to the family room sofa and slid in up against me. She sat there quietly for about a minute while we watched Premier League soccer, then she whispered into my ear that we needed to talk on the back patio. I started to protest, but I caught the look on Mom's face and knew I should that I should follow Traci outside.

"Don't you think this has gone on long enough, Stevie? The prom's been over for a week now and you're still not talking to me? Like I told you, it was a one-time thing. I got to go out with a different person and so did you, although I've got to say you sure surprised me with your choice. You certainly didn't make Laura happy."

"Wasn't trying to make Laura happy. Was trying to make me happy," I grumbled.

"Okay, so you made yourself happy, I guess, but now it's time for life to go back to normal. I'm back, I'm yours and you're mine..."

"At least until the next time you decide to take a break from me," I interrupted.

Traci looked sheepish.

"I can't say I didn't enjoy prom, but that's done. We're

us

again, Stevie," she said.

"No, Traci, we'll never be

us

again," I said. "You ended

us

forever."

"Don't be that way, Stevie," Traci responded as she sniffed back some tears.

I got up off my chair, went into the house, got my car keys and left. An hour later, after Traci gave up and went home, my mother texted me.

I went out with Allison several times during the summer before I left for college. We always had fun, but we were both realistic: I had four years of college ahead of me and she had three years of high school left. We agreed that it was best to go our separate ways, although we didn't rule out the occasional date during the summers when I was home.

A little after New Year I got a call at school from Traci. It was her senior year and her prom. She was calling to let me know that she was making up for screwing up my prom, and that I could take her to this year's prom. It was a magnanimous offer, I told her, but I just wasn't up to it. I suggested to her that maybe Justin was available. Since they had a good time last year, maybe the two should do a rerun. She softly hung up the phone.

Traci would occasionally stop by in the summers when I was home, hinting that we should get back together. She even hinted to both of my parents that she and I should get back together. That also explains why I had to endure about an hour-long lecture from her mother on how we were so good together and what a waste it was that I couldn't see the forest for the trees. Of course, I wouldn't be anything but polite to Traci's mom because of all of our history, but I still couldn't give her an answer that would make her happy. For his part, Traci's father couldn't look me in the eyes. I think he agreed with my stand, but wouldn't say it out loud.

I knew Allison had her share of dates, after all, she was developing into a real stunner as she finally gained a little weight and developed small but perky boobs. I did my share of dating, as well, as I'm a fairly decent-looking guy with a healthy sex drive. I kept track of Allison enough to know that she didn't have a regular guy halfway through her senior year, so when I was home at Christmas, I asked her if she would like me to take her to prom. She smiled broadly and said yes.

Three years had matured Allison's body and mind, but although she had developed into a legitimate hot babe, she never let her beauty overshadow her fun personality. We had a great time at the prom, and after we had an even better time when we got to know each other intimately for the first time. I had booked a hotel room, hoping for that result, but I wasn't going to push Allison to go there. We started the evening as great friends, and as she did three years ago, Allison melded her body to me every time we hit the dance floor. Her lips tasted delicious and we spent a good amount of time kissing. Toward the end of the evening, I asked her if she wanted to party some more with her friends, or go with me to the hotel. She didn't seem surprised or upset that I had gotten us a room.

I had a bottle of champagne and a container of strawberries in the room. We took our time getting there, kissing, joking, laughing and talking. I don't know how long we did that before we wound up in front of the bed, where I gently starting removing her maroon silk and lace gown. She didn't look anything like the skinny tomboy I remembered as a 12-year-old as I slowly stripped her down to her matching maroon bra and panties.

We both got my clothing off down to my briefs before I went back to concentrating on her. When I removed her bra, her adorable pink nipples were as hard as bullets, and even though it seemed impossible, they appeared to grow harder when I gently thumbed them. She squealed when I started to lick, then suck them, before I gradually started to inch her panties down her small tight ass. I gently laid her back on the bed. She shivered when I ran my fingers along her pussy lips.

As Allison was a normal kid, I assumed she wasn't a virgin, but I didn't figure she had too much experience with sex, particularly with receiving oral sex, and it only took me a few minutes to find out I was right. After kissing all over her body and bringing her to orgasm three times with my fingers, I slowly licked my way down to her hot wet pussy.

"AAAIIIEEE!" or something to that effect, came shrieking from Allison's being as her entire body shook in orgasm within seconds of my tongue finding her pussy. She quickly engulfed my head within the embrace of her slender muscular thighs, and at that point I kind of went nuts, licking and sucking from her opening to her distended clitoris. She quickly had two more orgasms before I had to extricate my head so I could catch my breath.

Once able to breathe properly, I continued working on Allison's pussy, bringing her to another half-dozen orgasms before I slowly crawled up her body and inserted my rock-hard cock into her ultra-tight pussy about an inch at a time. We started slow and gentle, kissing as we went, before we gradually picked up speed. After about 10 minutes, she started to make unintelligible noises again and had a final orgasm. Ten more minutes later, I came like a freight train and planted a huge kiss on her as I finished.

We snuggled quietly together for a while before we started to again talk and laugh. We got dressed and left, and I had Allison home by 1:45AM, 15 minutes ahead of Big Ed's deadline for the night.

Allison and I were steady for the summer after her graduation, but again we went our separate ways when she left for her freshman year at a college in Iowa and I went off for my senior year at a college in Indiana. We occasionally emailed each other, and while we remained great friends, we both knew we were headed in different directions. I would be graduating in May, while she had three more years of school to go. They say timing is everything, and it looked like ours was just off.

I had to give Traci credit for her persistence. She kept her hand in the game with occasional emails, gently reminding me that she would drop everything in a heartbeat if I would just give the word. I would politely remind her that our ships had passed in the night and we both had lives to lead.

I got a good job with a mid-sized accounting firm in Ohio and started classes for a master's, as well, thinking that someday I might want to become a college professor. I know it sounded geeky, but I really enjoyed connecting with people through math.

Taking college courses kept me in touch with a lot of co-eds, and my social life came more from that direction than from any other, until Molly reached into my world and plucked me from my meager existence.

Molly was a divorcee with a child, who had recently started working in the audit division at my firm. With long bright orange hair, freckles everywhere and whiter than white skin, she was the ultimate ginger. She also had large breasts and captivating green eyes, which I didn't really notice until she spilled hot coffee on my shirt at a birthday get-together in the office breakroom one day. Everyone knows what I'm talking about: coffee and cake for a co-worker in the breakroom. She apparently got her cake just ahead of me, but when she pivoted to move away from the table, the square of cake she had just gotten dove off of her plate, and in her attempt to stop it, she jerked her left hand to the side, creating a splash that landed on my chest.

It burned like hell, that much I remember, but when I looked up I got lost in those green eyes, and suddenly, I didn't feel the pain anymore. It wasn't until another co-worker rushed over to me with paper towels and started dabbing that I regained my sense of touch and yelled in pain. Molly immediately started apologizing while I left to hit the restroom.

An hour later, those mesmerizing green eyes showed up in my office carrying another piece of cake, and five minutes later I had a date for the next Friday night.

I have to admit I was shocked when I rang Molly's bell on Friday night and the door was answered by this strapping teenager with red hair. He had to be at least 16 years old, which means Molly was probably older than I originally guessed. Not that I was put off by her age, but I was surprised when she admitted to 42. She later told me that she had been married for 16 years, and had been divorced for four years.