Sam, short for Samantha
Jon's therapist gave him homework. When he claimed every relationship he'd had ended in disaster - with one important exception - she told him to compile a list of every girlfriend he'd ever had. They'd go down the list during counseling sessions.
His one successful love affair was with his high school girlfriend, Samantha, who insisted that everyone call her Sam. She dressed in boyish clothes and kept her hair very short. When Jon got to know her, he realized that the girlish teenager he'd enjoyed hanging around with since he was a kid was actually a very feminine, sensitive young woman he couldn't help but love.
They made wonderful memories together.
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Everything changed when Jon got his driver's license. Jon's older brother was a bit of a dope whose behavior troubled his parents; part of the reason Jon worked hard to be a good son and a good student was that he wanted to be someone who made them proud and didn't cause trouble.
They encouraged Jon to participate in his school's extracurricular activities as well as the social events organized for his classmates. The boxing team gave him friends and fitness. He went to bowling parties, events at the skating rink, dances, and gatherings at the homes of his classmates. As Jon got older his mother devoted more and more time to chauffeuring him and his friends, so she was relieved when he got his license. No son had ever done more to prove he was responsible enough to drive, so they gave him keys to a car his father didn't use much anymore. It was nice driving to school. It was nice giving rides to friends.
A frequent rider was a cute girl named Samantha, but who insisted she be called Sam. He'd known her since elementary school, and had enjoyed the bubbly optimism she always conveyed. They felt very comfortable around each other, and as the months went by, they found themselves spending time together in the school library, the cafeteria, and social events. They were both happy, well-adjusted kids who were fascinated by almost everything around them, and they realized that they enjoyed experiencing things together. Sam was the first girl Jon invited on an actual date, and his parents approved. They knew Sam, knew her parents, and thought that Jon's friendship with her was more evidence of his good judgment and maturity. It helped that Sam was the kind of girl who didn't wear make-up or the revealing, sexy clothes favored by some teenage girls. Sam gave off a boyish vibe.
The chemistry between them developed immediately. Jon could drive Sam wherever and whenever he wanted, so they began having long, intimate conversations that grew increasingly romantic.
As Jon felt their mutual attraction grow, he did something that revealed a lot about the kind of boy Jon was. He went looking for reading material offering dating advice for teenage boys. He found a lot of crap that focused entirely on birth control and sexually transmitted disease. Jon knew all that; he wasn't an idiot. But there was one essay written by a woman who gave blunt, practical, honest advice for young men who wanted to know how to treat their girlfriends. The author knew that boys were especially interested in what they would eventually call seduction, and she offered suggestions that were so sensible Jon never forgot them.
The idea was to recognize that teenage girls needed to be treated with extreme respect, and that this was the key to becoming romantic. She talked about the importance of good manners, mature behavior, and listening - really listening - to everything girls had to say. Listening, she said, is the most intimate thing a boy can do with a girl.
When it came to cultivating a physical relationship, the author said that girls wanted physical intimacy, but that many boys didn't understand what that actually meant. The key was taking one step at a time, and allowing girls time to enjoy each one. The obvious place to start was holding hands. Do that for a while, enjoying the feeling, before moving on to kissing. Don't rush on to French kissing, touching, or any of the steps that would come in time. Let things develop naturally. Savor the moment, for God's sake.
She said that it was obvious that boys needed consent every time they wanted to move on to a level of deeper intimacy, but that the girls didn't want them to bombard them with an endless series of questions seeking permission to hold hands, kiss, and all the rest. Girls wanted to express consent in a much more romantic fashion. A boy should place his hand next to the girl's hand and let her react. If she didn't move away, that meant it was okay to hold hands. Moving closer and closer, until their faces were almost touching, was the way to get consent to kiss. It was such sensible advice that Jon wondered why no one had said anything like this in the sex education classes he'd attended, which always acted as though teenagers were some kind of feral beasts when it came to romance.
Sam loved being treated this way. She'd always had a high regard for Jon, and when he started this series of gentle invitations to intimacy, it made her heart melt. Without ever rushing, they entered the grown-up world of intensely erotic romance. They had long make-out sessions in the back seat of Jon's car, finding remote places to park where they would not be disturbed. Eventually they began removing most of their clothing, touching each other in their most intimate places. It was wonderful. Just wonderful.
Sam may have looked boyish in her clothes, but when Jon saw her nude body he was transfixed. She was a woman, and looked like one. She may have only been a teenager, but Jon felt he was in the presence of a goddess when they were alone. In time their relationship included every sexual thing a couple could do without having actual sex. They'd start making out, and Jon would remove Sam's top and bra. After a while he'd remove her panties, too. She'd sit in the back seat of Jon's car, almost naked, with her legs spread wide so Jon could touch her where she wanted to be touched. It didn't take them long to figure out how to make Sam come. She loved every second of these sexy times, and she always expressed her happiness by returning the favor. She'd unzip Jon's pants, take his cock in her hand, and stroke him until he came in a tissue. The car would smell like sex by the time they were finished. Jon thought that nothing could be nicer than the relationship they enjoyed. Then Sam shocked him.
"I don't want to do this anymore," she said.
It was the most horrible thing she could have said. What was wrong? Sam seemed to enjoy these sessions as much as Jon, and she'd given him no warning of the fact that she was done with them.
"What's . . . what's wrong?" Jon asked.
"I want to stop fooling around like this. I love you, Jon. I want to make love with you. This has been great and all, but it's gone on too long. I want all of you. I want to make love for real."
Wow. Jon had enjoyed his time with Sam so much that he hadn't even thought about the fact that they'd spent more than enough time in the back seat of a car, and it was time for them to have sex. Some of their friends regularly had sex in their cars, and they constantly complained about it.
"We'll need to find a better place," Jon said.
"I know. I've thought about that. I don't have any good ideas about that. I suppose we could find some place to spread a blanket outside. I'm not crazy about the idea, but anything is better than being stuck in this car one more day."
"Yeah. You're right," Jon said. He pulled Sam close to him and gave her a long, soulful kiss. "I'll think of something," he said.
"Bring condoms," Sam said.
