Chapter 1 – Brent Remembers
She was his first crush. Brent had been attracted to her since they were kids. Unfortunately, they only saw each other once a year at "Grandma and grandpa's" house. But that all changed during the extended weekend her family visited his family's house during spring break.
Sherry came into his life when he was 13 years old, she was only 12 years old at the time. But as she would later tell him- she also was "almost 13". She was too. There was only a little under two months difference in their ages. Spring break was just starting and Brent was standing in his driveway waiting for her and her family to arrive. It was now 1981, nearly 5 years since he had first met Sherry. He was 18 now and was a senior in high school, and he knew she was as well. As he now stood in the driveway, he reminisced about their "relationship" the past five years. He remembered how he felt the first summer they met years ago just seventh-grade. It was a wonderful time. During sixth grade prior to that summer he had just started to find an interest in girls. The fact that this coincided with when he met Sherry could be considered a good thing, or perhaps a bad thing
As he continued to think back five years, he remembered everything leading up to the first time he met her at his grandparents' house. He had just climbed out of the station wagon following an 8 Hour drive from Chicago to Columbus. He gave his grandmother a hug and she started to talk about what was for dinner. Of course, food always dominated her conversations. That wasn't so bad as far as he was concerned. Of course he loved his grandmother to death; but the meals he ate while visiting was one of many things that he appreciated about visiting.
It looked like his family was the first to arrive this time. His dad had two younger brothers. The first behind him, Dale, was happily married to his aunt Patty and had a one-year-old daughter. His other uncle, Wayne, had been happily married a few years ago. Now however, he was divorced and always dating different women. So it was no surprise when his grandmother said that Wayne was bringing Vicki & Sherry at around five o'clock.
"He's dating two women now?" Brent said with a smile, even though there was perhaps a chance his joke was not a joke at all. But Grandma quickly laughed and he realized his uncle had not gone that far.
"The woman he's dating has a daughter," she corrected him, "her name is Sherry." Brent did not think much of it. In fact his first question was related to her mother.
"What's his girlfriend's name?" Brent asked.
"Vicki", his grandmother replied.
As he was thinking back those three years, he could not remember what happened leading up to five o'clock. However, he remembered when he saw Sherry for the first time. He could remember what she looked like as she got out of the car his uncle drove up the driveway. She was cute. Just very recently he had started to make those judgments in his mind about girls. Many new phrases had come into his head in recent months. "She is cute", "I like her smile", even "Wow! Those jeans are tight". As Sherry got out of the car, "she is cute" was just about the right sentiment. I mean, this was his "cousin", right?
While the rest of the details related to that visit five years ago were somewhat foggy at this point. He remembers vividly that by the end of that visit the statement "she is cute" would no longer suffice. He knew there was something special about Sherry. Even that soon, he started to make those distinctions in his own mind.
"Should I be thinking this way about her?" He thought to himself. It just wasn't fair. Feelings like this about girls were completely new no matter whom they related to. Now he was experiencing them about his new "cousin". He quickly eased his nervousness by correcting himself in his mind. She was not his cousin. They were not related at all. If, and that's a big "if", her mom and Wayne ever get married, then she would become his STEP cousin. To him, this justified the crush that he already had on this girl. He did not want to admit it was a crush. But at the very least she had a hold of at least a piece of his heart.
Over the last five years, it was obvious how much different their relationship was in relation to the rest of the cousins. Brent knew he shouldn't be feeling this way about her -- she was his cousin. But yet he spent most of his time justifying in his mind the fact that she was not his cousin. Wayne & Vicki never did get married yet. She would only be his cousin if his uncle actually married Vicki. That was highly unlikely. And even then, she would still only be his STEP cousin. Yes, he had this completely justified in his mind for the last three years.
He remembered this every time they visited his grandmother's and the two of them were together. His mind was constantly worrying. She was only the daughter of his uncle's girlfriend. Nevertheless, he couldn't help the fact that his heart beat fast and there was always that sense of excitement when they were together. It was always innocent he kept telling himself. There was flirting. Of course, it could barely be called flirting early on. But as they grew older, it definitely was flirting.
The two of them constantly tried to find time to be alone. Conversations with her were wonderful. Now he had even more to worry about. Not only was he finding himself physically attracted to her, but the relationship that had developed now made him feel closer than a cousin even emotionally. He took comfort in the fact that it was painfully obvious she was feeling the same way. Both in the fact that he was flattered she had a crush on him, and even more so because he was glad someone else was also struggling with this moral dilemma. Despite all the attraction and chemistry that a boy and girl can have between the ages of 13 and 18, nothing ever happened. He had always been able to lie to himself that he had no feelings "like that" for Sherry.
It now was spring break of his Senior year. As he stood in the driveway waiting for them to arrive he was more anxious than ever this time around. They had never visited his house. For some reason, his Uncle Wayne and dad had planned this trip where Wayne, Vicki & Sherry would come and stay for three days.
It was now Friday morning and he was shooting hoops in the driveway. Every year, the anticipation leading up to seeing her was getting more and more difficult. The usually get to see each other once a year; but it had almost been two years since the last time they saw each other this time around. He barely could remember everything about what she looked like. He knew she looked great, but the details in his mind were fuzzy. He couldn't wait to be reminded in just a little bit.
Although they only got to see each other once a year, or even more in this case, their brief times together were amazing. To make things even more exciting, they never talked or corresponded any other time throughout the year. Why? He didn't know. Perhaps it was because they were supposedly "cousins". Any other girl and he would be writing her every day. But it seemed they both knew they had to limit their contact to "maintain appearances" and hide the feelings they both knew were deep down inside.
The car pulled up. Wayne opened the driver side door and was quickly out. As his hand went up, a big "Well, Howdy!" came out of his mouth. Brent didn't answer. He saw her figure in the back seat on the left. It could have been a purple gorilla that got out of the driver seat and Brent would not have been aware. His eyes were focused on the back door. At that point, it opened. Sherry stepped out. There no longer was any way he was going to be able to lie to himself from this point on.
Chapter 2 – Sherry Arrives
As she stepped out of the car, he was mesmerized. She had definitely changed in the last two years. Many things were still the same. Her blonde hair was still beautiful. It also was still "feathered" like all girls and women were doing in 1981. As he continued to look at her he realized he was doing so from her blonde hair downward. Consequently, her blue eyes struck him next. Again, this time they struck him straight to his heart. And unfortunately in his panicked mind – they struck him even lower as well. They were a very pretty blue. Muted enough that they did not steal the focus from her other lovely features, yet still fetching and able to pull unsuspecting teenage boys under her control if she wished.
Nothing special could be mentioned about her nose because his eyes so quickly moved to her mouth. Her lips were still as lovely as he always remembered them. His memories were both from the visits in previous years as well as all his fantasies every other day. However, something was different. Their eyes at that point truly met. She then smiled a very large, bright smile. But then she quickly hesitated and stopped. Any other time, he would think perhaps it was because they had to "hide" their feelings. But this time, her smile told the story. By opening her mouth, she exposed the fact that she had obviously visited an orthodontist since he last saw her. Braces! The way she closed her mouth made it obvious she was uncomfortable. But in his mind, this only made her that much more attractive. For whatever reason, he had always been attracted to the girls with braces. This was such a gift!
After closing her mouth, a smile still remained. Perhaps it did not show her braces, but it showed him she was also very excited they were together again. She walked straight to him and opened her arms for a hug. In reality it was probably only two seconds between the time she first opened her arms and when they first touched. But in his mind, there was an eternity of confused and nervous thoughts. Should I hug her? If I do, will everyone know what I'm thinking? How long should I hug her?
