"And so in conclusion, my fellow graduates of Sacred Hearts Preparatory High School, we go off to college and out into the world with all of the knowledge that we acquired here. And I know that each and every one of you, with the help of our God, will be successful in whatever you set your mind to. And we will be the future leaders of this great country!"
A rousing cheer went up from the crowd of students, friends and family in the school gymnasium as Holly completed her valedictorian speech to the graduating senior class. She waved and then took her seat next to Sister Gabriella, the head nun at the catholic school. The ceremony wrapped up a few minutes later, and after another big cheer everyone made their way to the exits.
Outside, Holly found her mom. Holly gave her a brief hug as her mom congratulated her on an excellent speech.
"That was great Holly! I'm so proud of you!" her mom said.
"Thanks mommy. It wasn't a big deal. Anyway, I need to get going. Dad is taking me out to dinner," Holly replied.
"Oh, ok. Umm, Friday is your eighteenth birthday, do you want to do something?" her mom asked.
"Umm, I don't know. Dad said I could invite some friends to his house."
"Oh. Well maybe this weekend?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I have to go, though," Holly said tersely. After another quick hug Holly headed back into the crowd to find her dad as her mom headed to the parking lot.
Before she reached her dad, Holly felt someone grab her arm and spin her around. She almost dropped her yearbook, which she was carrying in hopes of getting a few last people to sign it. She discovered that it was Derek that grabbed her. Derek had also just graduated, which was a surprise to most everyone, including Holly. He'd been a troublemaker his whole time at the school, perpetually in detention, and never seemed to pass any of his classes. His parents donated money to the school and paid Derek's tuition to the private school, though, so the school staff put up with him as best they could.
"Hey Holly! Great speech!" he said cheerfully.
"Oh, umm, thanks Derek." Holly didn't care much for Derek. She was at the top of her class, he was at the bottom. Because of that she didn't feel it worth her time to be nice to him, and she was a little annoyed at having to actually talk to him now. Still, he was pretty cute in a rugged sort of way, and though she would never admit it she felt an odd attraction to his bad boy persona. Derek had matured very early. When he was a freshman he could have passed for a senior. And now four years later his body had filled out and he looked mature beyond his eighteen years.
"So I was thinking, I won't be seeing you around school anymore. Why don't you give me a call sometime, we can chill," he said.
"I, umm, I don't know," she responded. She wasn't used to being asked out, and she briefly considered whether someone had put him up to it as a joke. She spent most waking hours studying, doing homework, and volunteering for various church events and charities. The truth was that most boys sensed that Holly felt she was better than them. It's not that she was unattractive. She was 5 foot 5 inches tall, with a pretty face and long curly brown hair. Her body could best be described as average, however. She wasn't fat or thin, but because of her lack of physical activity she couldn't be described as athletic either. To top it off, her 34 B-cup breasts offered nothing to help her stand out with the boys in school. She hesitated, not sure what to say to him.
"Here, let me sign your yearbook," he said and grabbed it from her before she could protest. He quickly flipped to the page with his picture. "To the hottest fucking chick in the school," he mouthed as he wrote.
When she realized he was actually writing that she shrieked and tried to get her yearbook back. He turned away from her and finished by writing his phone number below his picture.
"There you go. Call me anytime," Derek said as he closed the yearbook and handed it back to her. She grabbed it and glared at him, furious about what he wrote.
"I have to go," she tersely replied and quickly turned away from him to find her dad. Derek just smiled as she walked away.
*****
Two weeks later Holly was spending the required weekend at her mom's per the divorce agreement that was negotiated four years ago. She'd turned 18, so now it was really up to her if she wanted to live full time with her mom or dad, she just hadn't gotten around to bringing up the subject. Of course she'd rather stay with her dad full time, but then she also was heading off to college out of state soon, so she figured she'd endure the shared custody for another two months.
She'd never forgiven her mom for divorcing her dad, putting all the blame on her and none on him. Her mom had raised Holly as a good catholic girl, and Holly took all the teachings to heart. Divorce was wrong, but her mom was ignoring that and was only thinking about herself. On top of that, now her mom had a boyfriend. His name was Barry, and they hung out in her mom's bedroom all the time. The walls were thin enough that she heard way more than she wanted to, with the two of them giggling and doing other things that she didn't want to know about. She was certain they were having sex, which was another sin.
Tonight was no different, and Holly was fuming. Her mom and boyfriend were in their room watching TV. The TV wasn't loud enough to drown out their senseless laughter, though. She needed a way to get back at her mommy, teach her a lesson. And then an idea formed in Holly's head. She grabbed her yearbook and picked up her phone. Without thinking she punched in the number.
"Hello?" came the voice at the other end of the phone.
"Hey, um, Derek, how's it going? It's, umm, Holly," she stuttered. She'd called without putting much thought into what to do next.
"Holly! Hey babe, what's up? How's your summer vacation going?" Derek asked.
"Oh, it's ok I guess. It's such a bore here at my mommy's house."
"Yeah, I know how that goes. You want to get together? We could listen to some tunes, there's this new band you might like," Derek said.
"Yeah, that'd be great. Can you come pick me up?"
"Sure thing, give me twenty minutes."
Holly hung up and rushed to her closet to find something better to wear. She frantically emptied half of her closet before she finally picked out a silky blue top. She didn't know why she was acting this way, it was very unlike her to go out of her way to get the attention of a boy. Just as she walked back to the living room wearing the top she saw the lights of Derek's truck pull into the driveway.
"Mommy, I'm going out for a bit!" she shouted and then went out the front door without waiting for a reply. She hopped into the passenger side of Derek's truck.
"Let's go!" she said a little breathlessly.
Derek pulled out and they drove around town for a while. They talked, or rather Derek talked and Holly for the most part stayed quiet and stared out the window feeling unsure of herself. He played a couple songs from the new band that he had mentioned over the phone. She cringed a little at the coarse lyrics, but didn't say anything to Derek about it. They eventually went through the Filiberto's drive through and got a couple of sodas. Instead of driving away, though, Derek parked at the far end of their parking lot, away from the other cars and traffic.
"What are you doing? Why'd we park?" Holly asked.
"Why did you call me tonight, Holly?" he asked, ignoring her question.
"I don't know." She paused. "I hate what you wrote in my yearbook."
"Oh do you? It's true, though. You don't see it, and maybe not too many others see it either. But I do. You are hot. You just never let it out."
Holly blushed at the compliment, unable to hold on to the anger she had over his defacement of her yearbook. Derek leaned over to her and turned her face to his. "You are fucking hot, and don't let anyone tell you and different." And then Derek kissed her. At first Holly was shocked. She'd never been kissed by a boy before. But she kissed him back, and for several minutes they continued to explore each other's lips. It was nothing like how she imagined her first kiss would be, as they sat there in the truck in a dark corner of a parking lot, but even so there were butterflies in her stomach and she felt a little dizzy.
Holly felt Derek as he took her hand in his, and then placed her hand between his legs. He pressed her hand against the bulge in his pants.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Holly blurted out.
"Oh, don't give me that innocent act. I know why you called me tonight. I was watching how you treated your mom at graduation, and could tell in the tone of your voice over the phone tonight. You want to get back at your mom, and you were thinking that hanging out with a guy like me would do it."
"That's not true!" She was shocked at his accusation. Was she that obvious?
