Brad looked between the picture that Jennifer had sent and her message, over and over again. A small part of him felt utter and complete panic. As the minutes passed however, another part of him, a more rational part, took over. What was the worst that would happen? He supposed it all hinged upon who Jennifer decided to share the information with.
He picked up his phone and begin to write her back, deleting his message twice, unsure of exactly what he wanted to say. It was late, and Brad was spent from the evening with Mrs. Roberts. In the end, he opted not to send anything, it could wait until morning. He was not entirely convinced of that, but he was exhausted, and doing nothing seemed more productive than scrambling to do something without giving it some time to stew in his mind. He slept deep while his body recovered some much needed energy.
When he stirred from his sleep, the room was still dark. Only the dim light from the moon letting him see around, and allowed him to see that he was not alone. At the edge of the bed sat Jennifer, nudging him softly in the arm. Brad was surprised to see her, but not overly startled.
"Hey," he said, waking up and doing his best to shrug off the grogginess.
"Hey," she replied, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Brad sat up, moving the pillow to support his back, careful to keep the sheets down since he slept naked. "What's up?" he asked, as though this were a normal place and time for them to meet.
"I sent you a message. Did you get it?"
"Yep," came the reply.
"Ah. I didn't know if you did, since you didn't reply."
"To be honest, I didn't know what to say."
She smiled softly, "Listen, I won't tell anyone, ever. Not even your sister. Cool?"
Brad felt a weight lift off his chest, one he did not even know was there until she uttered the words. "Cool," he said, breathing out a sigh of relief.
They sat in silence for a moment, Brad not sure exactly what Jennifer wanted now.
"So, uh..." Jennifer began, "Did you have a good time?"
Brad grinned awkwardly, given that the photo had been of him, naked with another woman, each with a drink in hand, the question seemed a little ridiculous.
"Yeh, I did." was all he said.
"Did you two have sex?" Jennifer asked, looking away now, down towards the floor.
Brad considered the question, and about how much information to share. He could have lied, since there was no way to prove that anything past the photo had occurred. He could have simply said that they had sunbathed, and on a dare, disrobed for a time. Something inside wanted to be more honest though, so he said, "Yeh, a few times actually."
The room was rather dark overall, but even with the little dimness provided by the outside moonlight, Brad could see Jennifer's eyes widen at his response.
He decided that he would be honest with her, thinking he had nothing to lose, and she seemed genuine in her promise to keep it between them, "We had a drink together on the patio, and we went inside and had sex on her couch, and then upstairs in her bedroom. We showered together after, and I came home."
Jennifer looked at Brad now, and he wondered if she believed him.
"Is that what you wanted to know?"
She nodded, moving her head only a little.
Brad watched, seeing that she was so quiet now. He was not sure what to make of it, after all, it was she who had come to see him. "I thought my sister would be at your house actually, like most Fridays."
Jennifer took this as a cue to answer, "We were going to, but my mom and dad were having a dinner party, and I didn't want to bother them and their boring friends."
"So you guys were here all evening," Brad replied.
"Yeh," said Jennifer.
"And you were snooping in my room when you took that picture?"
Jennifer blushed, caught in the act, but thankful that Brad would not see it in the darkness, "I actually came to borrow a pen from your desk for my notes, and I heard the voices from outside."
Brad did not totally believe that, but it mattered little. It seemed that his secret was safe, for now at least. "So, now you know what happened. Will you keep my secret?"
Jennifer did not hesitate even for a moment, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, ever."
Again, Brad breathed a sigh of relief. He watched Jennifer, who sat again, looking everywhere but at him, her fingers interlocked and moving about. Something was on her mind, eating to get out.
He asked, "Are you ok?"
Jennifer breathed out a deep sigh, she looked up to the door, then to the floor, and finally, taking a deep breath, she looked at Brad.
"If I kept it a secret, do you think you could teach me a few things?"
Brad said nothing at first. He let the words sink in for a moment before considering what she meant.
"Teach you...things about sex?"
Jennifer nodded again, "It's just that, I've had a few boyfriends, and I've had sex once, but everytime we did anything, we had very little privacy, or we were in a rush to not get caught. I just...I thought about finding a guy just for like a friends with benefits type of deal. But I don't have anyone to really ask, at least no one I know well enough to trust, or someone I don't want to lose as a friend, or to be honest, guys my age I feel know about as much as me."
Brad continued to let the words sink in, not sure if this was real or not.
Jennifer paused to collect her thoughts, "I was thinking you and I could do some things, so that I'd learn and it would be safe. I won't ever tell anyone, and I hope you wouldn't either."
She finished her sentence, and then let silence fill the air as Brad considered the proposition. A moment passed, and as Jennifer was about to simply announce it was all an elaborate prank, of course she was not serious, it was all for a laugh, Brad said, "Ok, I think we can do something."
She could not believe it, her mouth hung open, and eventually she replied, "Really?"
"Yeh," said Brad, if you want to learn some things, and we'll keep it between us, I think it'll be fine."
Jennifer grinned from ear to ear, shocked that her proposal had paid off, "Cool! Ok, well we can text and figure out a time to get together. Your sister and I are going to my place tomorrow for the rest of the weekend, which is fine because I have a lot to finish for my classes."
"That sounds good," said Brad.
Jennifer could not conceal her happiness as she stood to go, cracking the door open ever so slightly to make sure no one was in the hall. She tiptoed out and back towards the basement where they had hunkered down for the night after the movie.
Alone once more, Brad settled back down. Curious, but excited at what lay in the future.
He slept like a log, dead to the world, for the rest of the night and well into the morning. It was nearly ten when he stirred from his slumber, as his phone vibrated next to him. Mike had been sending him messages, none of them important, all links to something funny from the internet. There was one message from Mrs. Roberts, which was nothing more than a full mirror selfie of herself, wearing nothing but a smile.
Rolling out of bed, he stretched, up, up, fingers almost to the ceiling, as he basked in the early morning sun that came through the windows.
Brad threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top, planning a quick workout and maybe a run. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen as both his mother and father, sister, and Jennifer, were all leaving after having breakfast. He said hello to everyone, and his father informed him that they were leaving. After dropping the girls off at Jennifer's house, he and his mother would be going to brunch and a movie.
He nodded at everything his father said, and then said goodbye to everyone. Not once did Jennifer look him in the eye, as though they had not been up late at night discussing future plans to meet only a while ago.
As the familiar sound of the garage opened and closed, Brad sent a message to Mrs. Roberts:
"What a perfect picture to get this morning :).
My place is empty for the next few hours, want to come on by?"
He sent the message and poured himself some of the coffee left over in the pot. He sat down at the kitchen counter and sipped slowly, while browsing a forum on his phone about a recent game he had missed.
A few minutes passed by and there was a soft tap at the patio doors. Brad looked up to see Mrs. Roberts at the glass doors, wearing a yellow sundress and sandals, looking cautiously around the kitchen.