This fictitious fantasy took on a life of its own as I penned my valentine's contest entry. I couldn't find a suitable place for a very specific vision I stumbled upon as I wrote that story. I also could not envision this vision of mine fitting naturally in my unfinished story with Lexi. Thus, the story of Emily, a sheltered, socially-awkward girl next door type beginning the transitional journey from high school to college life was born.
Chapter 1 - Em's First "College Party"
After a weekend away at her Aunt and Uncle's house my 18-year-old stepdaughter Emily announces she's home. We wave goodbye to her Uncle Chuck & Aunt Jen and I welcome Em home with a warm hug.
Chuck and Jen have helped out with Emily, having her over regularly since her mother passed 11 years ago. Em's aunt and uncle never had kids but they both travel for work, so taking Em was not an option for them. Em (or Emmy as I sometimes call her) and I have been very close despite not being her father and I raised her as my own rather than moving on and away after her mother died in the accident, as her father was never in the picture at all.
Next month, will go off to college. Other than going to her Aunt and Uncle's house to stay and our annual vacations, Em has never really been away from home for any length of time. She has been a very sheltered child in that she attended an all-girls high school. Her extra-curricular activities kept her busy and out of trouble, with Debate in the fall, Academic Sports League in the winter, and Track in the spring.
Em spent her past two summers taking extra classes so that she had a head start on her college. Between her AP classes and her summer dual-enrollment courses, Em completed an entire semester of college already. While I don't worry about her academically, I worry that she is in for a culture shock, as she has led a sheltered life and is quite shy.
Em was never one to go out and make new friends. In her much younger years, she clung to those she was familiar with. She'd even tremble at the sight of new people in our house. While she no longer trembles at the sight of strangers, she is not social and does not carry herself in such a way that makes her approachable. Despite her social awkwardness, Em is a beautiful girl. She is an attractive, yet somewhat nerdy looking girl next door who definitely is unaware how beautiful she is.
Em unpacks from her trip away while I get dinner situated on the grill. Eating in the living room, talk turns to Em's time with her family. She shares with me that they took a road trip to an amusement park, went shopping a lot, and went swimming in their new in-ground pool.
"If I'd have known that they built a pool, I'd have come with you," I joked.
Em giggled at my "dad comment".
"What all did you get when you went shopping? Did you break their bank this time," I asked, Knowing that Em is not high maintenance and isn't the shopping type.
"Yea right," she says.
"They got me stuff for school, clothes, oh and my new suit. Wanna see it," she asks as she uncharacteristically pulls her shirt off and slides her shorts down just below her hips to reveal a thin blue and white striped bikini that shows off her every curve.
"Looks great, Em," I say as I look away awkwardly and try to keep my tongue in my mouth. Em is a very well-developed young woman. At 5'1" and 110 pounds, a tiny waist and perky b, maybe c cups if my finely calibrated eyes are accurate, Em's bikini leaves very little to the imagination. The bottoms are cut high and accent her heart-shaped ass. Normally, when not in school, Emily typically dresses in baggy, modest fitting clothes that hide her curves.
"You don't like it, do you," she asks?
"No Em, it's not that at all. It's a nice suit. I ummmm... You're not taking that to college, are you?"
"Where am I going to swim? No, it's staying here," Em says as she catches the white shirt I threw at her to put back on.
"Good, as I don't want to go to jail for fighting off all the boys," I say half-joking.
"Yea right, Dad," Em responds as she puts on her shirt.
"Boys aren't into me anyway," she continues.
"Let's keep it that way until after your Masters, as you know my rule," I tease. The long running narrative is that there are no boys until after she gets her master's degree.
"Don't worry, boys are still yucky," Em jokes back. "Besides, it's not like I'd know what to do anyway."
"What do you mean, Em," I ask?
"Duh. You know I've never even kissed a boy. I wouldn't know what to do or how to even do it if a boy tried to kiss me," she explains in a serious tone.
"Sure you would," I assure her, uncertain what to say.
"No, I really wouldn't. Uncle Chuck & Aunt Jen think I should go talk to somebody. A therapist or something but I'm not really comfortable telling a stranger things."
"Wait, what? A therapist? Why do they think you need a therapist?"
"They think that when I go to college, I'm going to be a bookworm and not make any friends and they think that I need to talk to a therapist so I can become comfortable making friends and getting a boyfriend."
"That's a bit different than you've never kissed someone and need a therapist," I add.
"Not really," Em explains. "They think that I only like doing things I know I can do or know how it will turn out."
"I mean, they're right in a way. I don't talk to people because I don't know if they'll talk back or like me or whatever. And I probably don't talk to boys because I'm afraid that I won't know what to do or how to do it if they kiss me."
"I see. Well, it seems like we're talking right now. Are you comfortable talking to me about this stuff right now," I ask?
"I'm comfortable talking to you about everything. I mean, you're like my best friend and all," Em says as I smile.
"Well good, I'm comfortable talking to you too, bestie," I joke as we both laugh.
"No, seriously, I can play therapist if you want. Here, lay down on the couch and tell Dr. Shayne what's on your mind."
Em lays down on the couch and throws her feet over-top me. Instinctively, I give her a foot rub. She confirms she is nervous about going off to school and she talks about worrying she won't be able to find her classes. She goes on worrying about being invited to parties or worse yet not invited to parties, not that she'd know what to do at a party because she's never drank or anything.
"I'm a mess," she laughs.
"No, you're not, Em.
"So as your therapist, what I heard is that you're afraid of the unknown and it sounds like we need to work on taking some of the unknowns and making them known to you. Make sense?"
"No, how do you mean," Em asks?
"Well, you said you've never drank. So, as your therapist, I suggest we drink and pretend we're at a college party so that you at least know what drinking is like. Not that I want you to drink, but I'd rather you experience it here, safely rather than getting brave when you're at school. Does that make sense? Will that help you a bit?"
"Yea, that does," Em says. "Can we do it now?"
"I guess so," I reply as we go to the kitchen.
While one side of me wants to get her drunk to the point she is sick and hungover tomorrow as a deterrent to drinking in school, the more rationale side of me decides to give her a mellow, guided tour.
We start off with beer. Em takes a sip and is not a fan of the taste. I suggest she at least take a few more sips to see if the taste will grow on her, as college parties usually have beer. She's a good sport and finishes almost half, offering the rest to me when my beer is empty.
Next, I pour each of us a rum and coke. Em complains when I don't make hers as strong as mine, so I top her up so that both drinks are the same color.
I also suggest a shot before we do our rum and cokes. I grab four shot glasses, filling two with Jameson and the other two with pickle juice. I explain that the whiskey goes down first and then the pickle juice chases it second, citing that the pickle juice will neutralize the taste. We jokingly toast to therapy and down the hatch the shots and pickle juice goes. Em struggled getting the whiskey down but commented that the pickle juice made it pretty good.
I sense Em is starting to get buzzed, as she is a bit giggly and talking a mile a minute about random things like politics and the immature girls at her old school. She continues motor mouthing as we go back into the kitchen to refill my rum and coke. I note she is not ready for a refill yet, as she is about halfway done.
"Can we do another shot? Like, one that college kids will actually do," Liv asks?
Thinking for a second, I have the perfect solution. I grab two whiskey glasses and two shot glasses, filling the whiskey glasses with Red Bull & the shots glasses with Jägermeister.