Fifteenth Birthday

I was sniffling. “Can you come get me?”
Sudden alarm filled his voice. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, but I need you to pick me up.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
I wore a thin pink t-shirt and little white shorts. #lookinmybriefs #birthdays #contemporary #shortstory

There was a second of exploration, and then I withdrew my tongue, turned, and ran toward my walkway. At the edge of my garage, I looked back. He had a stunned expression on his face, leaving me feeling totally satisfied. #lookinmybriefs

He finally laughed and said, “Come here.”
Like he had done the previous two years, he grasped my head between his hands and kissed me lightly on my lips. A sudden reckless giddiness took me. I took his head between my hands and plunged my tongue into his mouth. #lookinmybriefs #birthdays #shortstory

“I had a good time. I always do when I’m with you.”
He sighed. “I’m glad. I’m sorry I wasn’t nicer.”
“Okay.” I took a couple of steps toward my driveway and then stopped. “I didn’t get my birthday kiss.”
He finally laughed and said, “Come here.”
#lookinmybriefs #birthdays #contemporary #shortstory

The August night was warm, and the Milky Way was shining. Scorpio was high in the sky. I sat on the rear bumper, not wanting to go in. He sat next to me but didn’t speak.
“You didn’t have a good time,” I said.
“Not really.”
“Why? I thought you liked hanging with me?”
#lookinmybriefs #birthdays

I giggled in response and turned forward, pretending to watch the film, but finding it impossible to stop giggling. Rickie sighed several times, and it annoyed me. I tossed a popcorn at his head.
“What the…?”
I realized he was steaming. I couldn’t understand why.
#lookinmybriefs #birthdays

Cybil shrieked when a couple hit her, and then she scooped some of hers and threw the pieces at me. That started a royal popcorn battle, and people we didn’t even know joined in.
“Knock it off,” Rickie snapped, sounding a lot like Dad.
I giggled in response. #lookinmybriefs #birthdays #contemporary

I felt something hit my head. When I turned, a piece of popcorn thrown by Tom Small hit my forehead. I grabbed a handful from my tub and threw them, trying to hit Tom. Cybil shrieked when a couple hit her, and then she scooped some of hers and threw the pieces at me. #lookinmybriefs #birthdays

Everything looked fake, and the characters were super stupid, especially the girls. The screenplay must have been written by a guy. People were getting bored and hollering derisively, especially during bad scenes. In the rear seats couples were locking lips, ignoring everyone else. #lookinmybriefs

I didn’t have enough for goodies so he bought two popcorn tubs and two large sodas. I noticed that he spotted friends, but he never approached them, acting like he didn’t see them.
The movie was a horror genre show, and it was a bust. #lookinmybriefs #birthdays #contemporary #shortstory

“But I never let them put their tongues in my mouth,” she once told me. “That’s gross.”
I had shuddered and agreed.
I hoped Rickie would pay my way, but at the theater he didn’t show any sign of reaching for his wallet. I had enough money to buy tickets for both of us. #lookinmybriefs #contemporary

Cybil and Tom sat in the back. Rickie seemed uneasy on the way to the theater, always glancing in the mirror to the back seat where Cybil and Tom were making out. I never gave it a thought, because she liked to kiss boys. #lookinmybriefs

“Oh, all right.”
I knew he would give in. “Can you drive us?”
“Yes.”
It was a double date with my good friend, Cybil Hart, and her latest boyfriend. Cybil attracted boys like politicians attract protesters. #lookinmybriefs

“A double date? Can’t you ask someone your own age?”
I didn’t understand why he was so reluctant. We had gone on a date when I was thirteen. In fact, it was his idea. Why was he so reticent now?
“I don’t want to go with anyone else. I want to go with you.”
#lookinmybriefs #birthdays #contemporary

Rickie Baines was someone I trusted, probably more than anyone, even my parents, but he was uncooperative.
“Please, please.” I had used the word a dozen times by then.
His face was twisted, like he was in pain. The pain was in his ass, and I was the cause.
#lookinmybriefs #birthdays #contemporary

Fourteenth Birthday

It was the afternoon of my fourteenth birthday. It had been a small party with only a few friends. That’s how I wanted it. I had reached the age when “friends” was a word I used for those I trusted, and not just someone I knew from school. #lookinmybriefs #birthdays #shortstory

That night I tossed and turned, overslept, and had to rush down to breakfast. It was the first day of my eighth-grade school year.
When I came home, I found that mom had changed my sheets and pillow cases. The copy paper was centered on my desk, still folded.
#lookinmybriefs #birthdays #contemporary

I took a sheet of copy paper and wrote my name on it. Then I wrote his name beneath mine. I studied them for a time, and then I wrote in big letters;

Lucy Acksand
Lucille Acksand
Lucy Baines
Lucille Baines
#lookinmybriefs

I lay awake that night, thinking about Rickie. I had thought I knew everything about him, but tonight I had discovered hidden aspects of his personality. Even more important, I had discovered hidden aspects of mine. After a while I rose and turned on my desk lamp. #lookinmybriefs #contemporary

It dawned on me what was happening. I was on a date with a boy. Never mind that the boy was Rickie Baines, my good friend and next-door neighbor, it was with a boy. And I had kissed him, deliberately, and on the lips. That was different from him kissing me. #lookinmybriefs #birthdays #contemporary