Losing My Religion

Any time of change in one's life can be scary as well as exciting. Ron Matthews thought of this has he sat in his assigned chair on the football field, preparing to walk across the stage and receive his high school diploma. His father had always told him not to be afraid of the future but to embrace it. Still, it was going to be difficult going from an eighteen year old high school senior and all-star basketball player at Northville High School to an unknown freshman at Mid-State University. He tried to push these worries out of his mind though and just concentrate on getting across the stage without tripping or dropping his diploma or doing something else embarrassing.

As they had done for their two older sons, Ron's parents held an open house and invited friends, relatives and neighbors to come help celebrate his accomplishment. Ron knew the rules. The guest of honor had to remain at home until 9:00pm. He really didn't mind since most of his friends were having their own celebrations and wouldn't be available for any kind of partying on their own until much later that night. When Ron got home from commencement exercises, he hurried inside to change into shorts and a T-shirt as he refused to spend the rest of the warm May afternoon in a shirt and tie.

As he was rushing out through the kitchen to the back yard, he nearly mowed down his neighbor, Melissa Roberts. This would have been bad enough, in and of itself but the fact that she was carrying a large bowl of his favorite potato salad would have compounded the accident into a disaster. Fortunately, he was able to stop short and managed to grab her shoulders firmly enough to keep her on her feet as well.

"Sorry, Melissa, I should've been paying more attention."

He gave her a sheepish grin and turned to walk out the door, holding it open for her to pass through as well. As she walked by him, she gave him a playful swat on the bottom, and admonished him to be more careful in the future.

"Yeah, and slow down. This is a party, not a fire drill."

Ron admitted later that the party was pretty cool. His parents grilled what seemed like a cow's worth of hamburgers and hot dogs and had plenty of other food to go with it. He enjoyed seeing his cousins and his older brothers were even being nice to him, which was a marked change from their normal sibling rivalry.

Later in the evening as most of the guests were sitting around the back yard enjoying their drinks and some quiet conversations, Melissa quietly took Ron aside to give him his graduation present. He looked at the festively gift-wrapped box in shock, as he wasn't really expecting her to give him anything.

"Well, open it!" she encouraged.

What he found inside made him grin broadly. Since he hadn't expected anything from her the contents of the box were especially exciting. His mother walked by and looked at it with a puzzled expression. She couldn't understand why he'd be so overjoyed to receive a maple bath brush with boar's hair bristles. Melissa smoothly interjected that when he'd stayed with her earlier in the year, she had extolled the virtues of the bath brush for getting hard to reach areas which was important to a young athlete like him who sweated a lot as it would help prevent body acne. His mom commented that she never realized her son was that interested in personal hygiene but let it go at that. Ron and Melissa shared a conspiratorial wink and then Ron noticed there was a small envelope attached to the brush. He opened it and found a gift card for a local store and when he saw the amount on it, his eyes popped wide.

"Oh wow, Melissa, no, this is way too much."

She smiled wistfully and put reached up to put a hand on his cheek.

"You know, since I never had the chance to have kids of my own, I've always considered all of you neighborhood rugrats to be my surrogate children, but Ron, you've always held a very special place in my heart. If I'd ever had a son, I would have wanted him to be just like you."

Unsure of just what to say, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. Mindful of the lipstick she was wearing, she kissed his cheek tenderly, trying not to leave an imprint on him. To her surprise, he kissed her as well; a soft, gentle kiss just under her jaw near her ear that sent a tingle running through her body. She sternly chided herself to keep her libido under control; that the placement of his kiss was simply awkward due to their height differences.

"Thank you, Melissa," he said as he pulled back but still held on to her. "I can't say that I'd necessarily want you as a mom, but you'd be a hell of a big sister."

She pulled back as well, looking up into his face to answer with a mischievous smile. "I think I like just being your friend."

At that moment, Ron's older brother, Steven, walked by... or rather staggered by as he'd been drinking heavily. Seeing Ron and Melissa in each other's arms, he clapped his youngest brother on the back.

"Hey, bro, good choice. Always best to lose your virginity to an older woman. They got the experience to break you in right."

Ron let go of Melissa and his face turned beet red. He wished that he were in a less well-lit environment so that she couldn't see his embarrassment but not wanting his brother to know, he simply acted annoyed.

"Yeah, well, when it happens to you, come tell me about it but for now just go find some place far away to sober up."

Steven was too far gone to truly understand the insult he'd just been handed and only registered his brother's annoyance with him. However, he did wander off mumbling about how he was just trying to help.

Ron's face was still slightly pink as he turned back to Melissa and he tried to think of some way to divert her attention from his brother's taunt but it seemed he'd used up his quota of glib remarks. She, however, misinterpreted his reaction and tried to ease his discomfort.

"Wow, he is really three sheets to the wind. You might want to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't try to drive anywhere tonight. The ER is going to be busy enough with seniors who are partying irresponsibly. They don't need another patient."

"Yeah," he said absentmindedly. "I'll make sure my parents are clued in."

She looked off into the distance as memories of years gone by came back to her. "When I worked at the hospital, I always hated graduation night. Teenagers think they're immortal anyway and the day they get that diploma, it just gets worse."

She pulled her attention back to the present and looked up at Ron intently. "You're not planning on doing anything stupid tonight are you?" she nearly demanded.

A few moments ago, his thoughts about what might happen later in the evening could definitely classify as 'stupid' but not in the way that he knew she was thinking.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to go out and get drunk or anything like that."

"Swear it!" she demanded.

He placed one hand on her forehead, a gesture that they'd shared for years when making solemn vows to each other. "I swear on your head."

They shared a conspiratorial smile in memory of all the promises they'd made to each other over the years, sealing each deal with the same ritual.

"Thank you, Ron. I'll sleep better tonight knowing you're not out among the crazy people."

"I won't do anything you have to worry about."

"Good," she stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek again, this time very quickly before stepping away. "I should go. I promised your folks I'd help with the clean up."

"Thanks again for the presents. Melissa."

"Use them wisely," she added as she turned to go into the house.

"Maybe I could come over some time this summer and you could teach me how," he called after her.

She merely smiled as she looked back over her shoulder at him while she walked away. Ron drank in the sight of her until the she walked out of the illumination provided by the landscape lighting. The skirt of her cotton sundress moved gently in the evening breeze and he stared at her hips as the fabric emphasized their movement. He looked in the opened box at the brush she'd given him and wondered what it would be like to use it on her. Though she'd always been the one to administer the spankings to him, he wondered if she'd like to have the tables turned on her.

That night, as he tossed and turned in bed trying to sleep, he found his thoughts fixated on the events of the day. Graduating high school was actually at the bottom of the list. Granted it was nice to see his diploma with his Honors Seal on it because it was tangible evidence of all the hard work he put in through the years. Mostly his thoughts revolved around his brother's taunt. He knew he never should have said anything to Steven about still being a virgin. Not that he was ashamed of the fact that he hadn't yet done the deed and it certainly wasn't for lack of opportunity. He had that wonderful combination of brains and good looks that made him a magnet for young women everywhere.

He remembered talking to Melissa about it when the pressure seemed to be tremendously high. She told him she couldn't, in good conscience, tell him to wait until marriage since she hadn't but she did say that she felt sex was something that should be saved for someone you truly loved. Then she added that most sixteen-year-olds weren't mature enough to really experience the kind of love and respect that such an act required. 'You can have sex a lot of times over the course of your life,' she'd said, 'but you can only do it for the first time once. Call me old fashioned, but I think that your first time partner should be someone extremely special.' Two years later he still thought it was good advice.

This night, he thought more about it. Though it really hadn't bothered him that he'd graduated a virgin (in fact, it was an accomplishment that he felt few of his classmates could claim), it did make him consider just who in his life was special enough to share that moment with. Oh he'd had several girlfriends over the years but since he knew he'd be going to college and making an even wider circle of friends, he avoided getting too closely attached to any one of them. As Steven's words spun round in his brain again he thought more about Melissa. If there was anyone, outside of his family, who was more special to him than she was, he couldn't think of who it would be.

Ever since she'd jacked him off during a particularly wicked spanking last fall, he'd looked at her in a different light. Even though she'd been very matter of fact when she'd done it, it had still made him have an incredibly hard orgasm, harder and longer than any he had while just masturbating and fantasizing about her. There was something about her touch. Steven was right. She had the touch of an experienced woman and he was beginning to get hard just thinking about it.

A sound outside his window interrupted his ruminations. He listened carefully and identified it as someone getting into a car. The engine roared to life and then idled for a few minutes. Ron couldn't think who would be parked on the street so late at night so he went to the window to investigate. In the dim light, it was difficult to see but seconds later the car pulled away from the curb at a safe speed so he didn't think any more about it. What caught his eye, however, was that as the car left its parking spot, Melissa's porch light went out and seconds later the light in her bedroom turned on.

As he glanced at the clock, he thought it was awfully late for someone to be leaving Melissa's house, then realized that his mind had made wild supposition. More likely she had just gotten up to see what the noise was about as well. Even though he knew he should get back to bed, he stayed at the window and watched her house, imagining how she would look right now. When he stayed with her in the fall, there were few constraints between them so he knew exactly what she looked like when she went to bed and when she got up. He knew that she favored satiny nightgowns that fell to mid-thigh. He knew that she had a nightly ritual of washing her face, brushing her teeth and applying, as she called them, her various fountain-of-youth potions. In the morning, she would twist her long, wavy auburn hair and secure it to the back of her head with a large clip until she took her shower.

He could almost visualize her now and as that mental picture made his young cock twitch again, he had to admit that there was nothing he wanted more than to hold her tightly and fuck her hard and deep. He sighed as he acknowledged what a pipedream it was. Melissa wouldn't even look twice at him. He was too young and too familiar. Besides, despite giving her a kiss that should have given her some idea of how he felt, she said he was like a son to her and that she'd be happy just being friends. On the other hand, she wasn't the one who pulled away from their embrace when Steven came along and he had noticed her looking at him at various times through the night as they were cleaning up after the party. There was a softness in her gaze that he'd never seen before.

"No guts, no glory."

Ron spun away from the window to see who was speaking to him but found he was still alone in his room. Where had the voice come from? The last time he'd heard those words was just seconds before executing a very bold play on the basketball court which had won the game and sent the team further on in the tournament. He supposed it didn't take a rocket scientist to determine why the phrase was coming back to him now. One more look through the window confirmed that Melissa's bedroom light was still on. While he supposed she could have fallen asleep like that, something told him it was likely that she was still up. Before he could chicken out, he picked up the cordless phone from the nightstand by his bed and dialed Melissa's number.

The night had been an emotional roller coaster for Melissa. She tactfully declined the invitation to attend the graduation ceremony because she knew she'd be as weepy as Ron's mother, if not more so. When she told Ron that he was special in her heart, she felt like it was such an understatement. From the moment she laid eyes on the brown haired toddler, she was besotted. When she and Roger had talked about starting a family, she told him that she was afraid that she'd have a son who couldn't live up to Ron's young reputation. He chuckled at her and told her that he had faith in their parenting abilities and that their children would turn out just fine.

She volunteered to stay at the Matthews' house and get things ready for the party while Ron's family was at the ceremony and doing so gave her time to wander around Ron's room. She smiled and idly ran her fingers over the various basketball tournament trophies he'd won. How empty the neighborhood would be once he went to college. She made a mental note to talk to the guys at the fire station about getting help with her yard work this fall as well as snow removal. Ever since Roger died, his fellow firefighters were always there for her to help with any need she had. Over the past several years, though, Ron had been the one to mow her lawn and keep her driveway and walk shoveled. She smiled at the thought of her graduation gift to him. For six years she had tried to pay him for his labors and he always declined saying he did it out of friendship. So instead she set aside his "wages" and when the time came, she used them to purchase a giftcard at a large discount store and attach it to a maple bathbrush. It was identical to the one she used and hoped it would be a fond reminder of the times they'd spent together.

Once everything was ready for the party, she had a few moments to sit down and think. She recalled the two spankings she gave him when he stayed with her in October. The first time was a real eye-opener for her. Though she'd seen Ron grow up before her eyes, she hadn't thought about all the ramifications of 'growing up' until it was presented to her very blatantly. Without thinking about it, she'd taken down his pants to spank his bare butt and there she found a penis that was very large and thick even though it wasn't erect. She was so angry and disappointed in Ron that she didn't really think about it until two weeks later when she had to paddle him again.

The second time she couldn't ignore it. She was shocked that he'd be aroused at the thought of a spanking, especially one as severe as he had to know he was going to get but she hoped she covered her surprise well. As if that weren't enough he was still erect even after some time in the corner and at that point she had to wonder if his excitement was caused by the spanking or if he was harboring some sort of feelings for her. She knew that the feeling of him squirming over her lap had made her rather excited but that wasn't a painful situation for her like it was for him.

In retrospect, giving him the hand-job probably wasn't the best idea but she couldn't help herself. She was by no means celibate but the thought of even touching such a long hard, cock was absolutely irresistible. She tried to cover her desire with a humiliating lecture but as she looked back on it, she realized that he probably hadn't heard a word of it. He was busy enjoying the sensations as much as she was.

Melissa let out a soft sigh as she heard the noise of Ron's car coming into the driveway. Until now she managed to stifle the memory of those wonderful four weeks of him living under her roof. He didn't realize just how much pleasure she got from having a companion to talk to and share meals with nor did he know how much she treasured the moments when he would really open up to her about things that bothered him. Of course, the quick glimpses of his naked body as he would run across the hall from the bathroom to the guestroom after a shower were just icing on the cake.

Now he had graduated and in a few short months would be moving away. She had to get used to the idea that she would be seeing less and less of him, which is the way it should be. A noise from the street caught her attention. The party must certainly be over by now, she thought, but curiosity led her to the living room to turn on the porch light and look out the bay window. She saw someone get into a car parked in front of the Matthews' home and heard the engine roar to life. She watched for a few moments until the car pulled away from the curb and once her curiosity was satisfied she turned off the porch light and returned to the bedroom.

She flipped on the lamp when she got back into bed. Knowing she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep easily, she picked up a book from the nightstand and started reading. Just as she began to get wrapped up in the story of mystery and intrigue her phone rang; startling her so badly that she nearly jumped out of the bed. She did fumble with the phone for a moment before she could answer.

"Hello?"

"Melissa, it's Ron."

"Ron? What's wrong? Where are you? Are you in trouble?"

Melissa's mind usually ran to worst case scenarios and assumed that the situation must be dire if he was calling her in the middle of the night.

"I'm fine. I'm at home and I'm not in trouble."

The news didn't stop Melissa's heart from racing.

"Then what's up?"

"Well, uh, I was having trouble sleeping and I saw your lights were on and I was hoping I'd be able to come over and talk to you."

Melissa checked the clock by the bed. Granted, she didn't have to be up at a particular time to go to a job but still it was the dead of night.

"I don't suppose this could wait until the daylight hours," she suggested.

While he knew that technically it could wait, he feared that if he delayed, he would chicken out.

"If you don't mind, I'd really rather do this now."

Melissa stifled a yawn. She supposed in the grand scheme of things, she had come to rely on him more than the reverse so it wouldn't hurt to give in to his request. She also knew that as he got older, he made few requests of her and assumed that whatever was on his mind must be pretty important if he wanted to talk about it at 2:00am.