The High School Reunion

She started to turn away from me but I caught her arm and turned her back so I could take her in my arms and kiss her. She didn't pull back or even hold back, the kiss was a barnburner, even more scorching than some of the ones we shared back in high school.

It was a while before we came up for air and just stood there looking in each other's eyes. After a moment, we both took a deep breath and smiled at each other. She turned and walked over to the counter to make the coffee, I leaned on the door of the refrigerator. With her back to me, she said softly, "I haven't been kissed like that in a long, long time. I'd almost forgotten what it was like." She turned toward me quickly and went on, "I should kick your ass out that door and lock it." I nodded, understanding what she meant. She looked at me for a second more and then turned back to the counter. "I won't though, I'm going to finish make this coffee, and then we'll go into the living room and sit on the couch and talk. When the coffee is ready, I'll serve us some of it and we'll talk some more. By the time we are finished with the coffee, maybe I'll have my courage up enough to do what I really want to do."

By the time Sandy turned around, I was half way to the back door. "Where are you going?" She asked hastily.

I stopped at the door and looked back at her. "I'm going back to my motel. If we still feel this way tomorrow after a day at the reunion, then we'll take up where we left off tonight. I don't want us to do anything that is not in both our best interest. I still love you and always have, but right now, I don't want to mess up. I think you understand, or at least I hope you do. I'll see you in the morning."

She smiled and nodded her head, "Thank you." She said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I kicked my own ass, all the time I was driving back to the motel. I took a quick shower, colder than my norm and piled into the bed. I was a long time going to sleep, as my mind went back over everything we had and hadn't said earlier and it played tag with memories from our high school days together. I can't remember if I was still tripping down memory lane or dreaming about the first time I touched Sandy's breasts but I woke up to the wake up call with a raging hard on. I took another cool shower and got ready for the day.

I was eating breakfast in the motel café when someone walked up to my table and stood there. I looked up to find Sandy standing there smiling down at me. "I hope you're happy." She said and sat down in the booth across from me. "I had one hell of a time going to sleep; I was wandering down memory lane until almost daylight. When I did sleep, all I did was dream of you."

I looked at her and blinked a couple of times, before I said, "You should have taken a cold shower, that's what I did. It didn't help a bit but it sounded good."

She laughed and shook her head, "You to huh, that makes me feel a little better." She glanced down at my half full plate, "Am I running too late to have time to eat?" She asked.

I looked at the clock on the far wall and answered, "We have plenty of time." I laid my fork down, smiling as I took her hands, and added, "We have all the time in the world. What would you like?"

She grinned and then lowered her eyes, "Damn, that's a loaded question, if I ever heard one. I think I'll start with the breakfast special and then see what the rest of the day brings."

I asked her, "The restaurants breakfast special or mine?"

She laughed and shook her head, "You're an incorrigible, dirty old man, and a terrible tease." She shook her head again and grinned, "You know the funny part is that I like it and I'm tempted to take you up on that offer. I wonder what that says about me."

With a deadpan look, I asked, "What's the female equivalent to a dirty of man?" She laughed so hard that I thought she would slide out of her seat.

She was still chuckling when the waitress showed up to take her order. The girl looked at Sandy like she was crazy for a second and then grinned. After a moment she asked, "What would you like? I can recommend the breakfast special." Sandy looked at her for a second and then lost it totally again. I could see in the waitress's face that she really thought Sandy was crazy this time.

I chuckled and told her, "That will be fine, fry the eggs over easy, whole wheat toast and coffee. Don't worry; I'll be taking her back to the home after we finish eating." The waitress look relieved and left to place the order. Sandy watched her leave, laughing harder than ever.

Sandy had it back under control by the time the waitress returned with the coffee. When she left, Sandy looked at me and said, "God, what that woman must think of me."

"It'll be alright when the swelling goes down." I said and chuckled.

Sandy grinned and said, "Don't get me started again; I almost peed in my pants last time. I think I need to visit the ladies room and see if I can pull myself together. I've already messed up my makeup as it is."

I smiled and said, "I think you're beautiful with or without makeup." She smiled back at me and left for the restroom.

Her breakfast was on the table when she returned. I was about finished with mine, so I drank coffee while she ate and we talked. Most of our conversation was about the old days when we dated. Our respective trips down memory lane had brought back many things that had been misplaced over the years, memory wise.

As she finished eating, I said, "The only reason I had any interest in this reunion was to see you. I never was close to anyone I went to school with but you. I was to busy trying to make a living, going to school and trying to get that football scholarship. When I didn't get the scholarship was one of the lowest points in my young life. Going in the Marines ended up being one of the best things in the world for me. It made me grow up and took the chip off my shoulder. Nam, damn near killed me but that helped me grew up even more." I paused a moment to get my thoughts together as I realized I was rambling. "What I'm getting at is; I'm not to sure about going to this reunion thing. I'd feel out of place and ill at easy, the same way I felt most of the time in high school."

Sandy watched me over the top of her coffee cup for a moment before she smiled and replied, "You're not the same person you were back then. I think you'll be surprise by how many people remember you. A lot of the kids looked up to you and respected you back then, even if you didn't realize it. Several people asked me about you at the other reunion I attended."

I chuckled and said, "Respected me? Most of the kids thought I was just another hood and were afraid of me."

She shook her head and smiled. "That's not true. You had been on your own since you were thirteen and held down two jobs plus going to school. Most of the kids knew that and respected you for it. Yes, you were rough, short tempered actually, but you never started a fight that I know of. You just made damn sure that you finished it and that the other person never forgot it. When you went out for football and became one of our best players, everyone was rooting for you to get that scholarship. I bet you didn't know that either. You may not remember many people from high school but they remember you."

I sat there looking at Sandy for several minutes as I turned over what she had said in my mind. Was she right? Probably. She was more attuned to people back then than I was. I had had more on my mind; people were the least of my worries. School hadn't been a social thing with me; it had been just another job. A thing I had to do if I wanted to get ahead in life. Football was the same way, a stepping-stone to college. I may have graduated at sixteen but I hadn't been a kid in any way, shape, or form for three years. My social skills were slim and none back then.

The waitress brought more coffee but Sandy had had enough and I figured it was time to go meet the ghosts from my past. "Ok, you talked me into it. Well, actually, you let me talk me into it. You were always pretty good at that." I said to Sandy when the waitress left.

She smiled and stood up. "You always had the right answers if you just stopped long enough to think about it. I just gave you the time and the reason to think." She replied with a grin.

I chuckled as I stood up and then I took her hand as we walked to the cashier to pay the bill.

We arrived at the school just after nine and went to the auditorium where everyone was to meet. We spent the next three hours wandering around talking to people. I was surprised at how many of these people I did know, although it took a little prompting at times before my brain matched up a nametag or a face with a person. There was close to a hundred people there, which I guess isn't bad since there was only two hundred plus of us to start with.

When lunchtime came, Sandy rode with me as we ended up going out with about a dozen other people to the old Lakeside Inn. I hadn't been there since my junior year of high school. It had been on a date with a cheerleader that hadn't even known my name until I started playing football. We had beaten our cross-town rivals, I had scored the winning touchdown, and she had asked me out. I had thought it was a joke at first because I wasn't one of the snobby in-crowd that she normally associated with. I had except the date more as a challenge than as a social function. That's just the way I took everything in my life back then.

When I mentioned that date to Sandy, she laughed and said, "Yeah, I remember that. You scared the hell out of that girl and the fact that she dated you, scared the hell out of me. That's when I decided that we needed to be something other than just friends. First of all because I realized what you meant to me and secondly, so I could tame you down and teach you some people skills."

I chuckled at that and said, "Boy, did I ever need that."

"Yes, you did." Sandy said with a chuckle of her own. "Did you really take her parking and tell her to put out or get out?"

I laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I sure did. I thought her dating me was a big joke. You know, the in-crowds way of placating the new football hero. You know me; a good offense is the best defense."

"Well, you offended her alright. The funny thing is, she waited for you to ask her out again, but you never did. If you had, I think she would have been all over you like a wet blanket. You intrigued the hell out of that whole bunch of girls that ran around together. They had never met anyone like you." Sandy replied with a grin.

I chuckled and shook my head. "Well, I'll be damned. It never crossed my mind that she would even speak to me again, much less go out with me. Boy, talk about your dummies, I didn't know a thing about women back then."

Sandy nodded and said, "I never could figure that out, you were overly aggressive towards males and totally non aggressive towards women. I thought I was going to have to mug you, to get you to kiss me that first time. When you did kiss me, then I finally realized that you didn't know very much about it. That was a big shock; I had always pictured you as somewhat of a ladies man."

I was pulling into the restaurant parking lot as I chuckled and replied, "Who me? No way, women scared the hell out of me. I knew I liked women but I didn't have a clue how to proceed without offending them; I was basically very shy."

"So I found out." Sandy said softly. "I kept waiting for you to make your move, and when you didn't, I wondered if there was something wrong with me. I started to get forward with you a couple of time, just to give you a hint."

I shook my head as I shut off the motor. "That wouldn't have been a good idea; or maybe it would have. Anyway, I wasn't a virgin and you weren't the first girl I had dated. I knew a good bit about sex and had had a little experience; I just didn't have the nerve or the knowledge to initiate it." I told her. We sat there looking at each other for a moment or two before she grinned her crooked grin and then laughed. "Yeah, I know, I was pathetic back then." I said with a chuckle.

"That's not it; I was laughing at me and our comedy of errors. I wanted us to make love so much but my upbringing wouldn't let me make the first move. That night you touched my breasts for the first time I thought I would explode. When you didn't go on from there, I wanted to scream. You didn't understand me and I didn't understand you. Talk about your total screw ups." She said before she leaned over to kiss me softly.

The kiss went on for a minute or so and would have gone on longer, but a tapping at my window broke us apart. One of the women in our lunch group was standing beside the truck. I rolled the window down and she asked with a grin, "Are you two going to have lunch or sit out here and neck?"

I laughed and answered, "We haven't decided yet." The woman laughed and shook her head as she walked towards the restaurant. I turned to Sandy and asked, "Well, what are we going to do? We could continue with our necking, or go to my Motel room..." I let the sentence trail off.

"We could go to my house." Sandy said softly.

"Yeah, we could." I replied.

Sandy sighed deeply and then said, "Yeah, we could but people would talk and..." She let that sentence trail off.

I chuckled and nodded, "So, let's go have lunch. We have already decided to take it slow today and then see how things stand."

Sandy laughed and replied, "Standing has nothing to do with it; my mind is definitely in a horizontal position."

"Mine too." I said as I opened the door of the truck and got out.

Lunch was fun and so was most of the rest of the afternoon. I even met the girl I had taken to the Lakeside Inn, along with her husband. She had been tall, curvy, and very athletic during high school, a cheerleader and prom queen. Now she was tall, very heavy set and married to a short, fat, bald guy by the name of Skippy. So much for the in-crowd, I'm glad I stuck with my own type people.

There was to be a dance that night, so Sandy and I had an early light supper at a steak house downtown. I dropped her off at her car so she could go home and change. As she got out of my truck, she grinned and said, "Why don't you give me about an hour and a half and then come pick me up. I don't see any reason for us to be running around in two cars, do you?"

"Nope, I don't see any reason at all. I'll be there with bells on." I said with a grin.

"You'd better wear more than that or we won't make it to the dance and if we did, you'd cause a riot among the female members of our class." She paused to laugh and then added, "Ok, I'll see you later." She blew me an air kiss and headed for her car.

I headed back to my motel wondering what I was going to wear. I hadn't even thought of a dance or anything really formal when I packed to come up here. I'd better call Sandy and see what the appropriate attire would be for the dance.

I arrived about ten minutes late to pick up Sandy. My black cowboy boots looked pretty bad so I stopped by the truck stop and got them shined. I ended up wearing my pigskin western cut coat with a western shirt and freshly pressed levies. It was the best I could do on such short notice. I had my Stetson in the truck but thought it was a little too much.

Sandy opened the door wearing what women call a simple, basic little black dress. Now I know why. She looked simple gorgeous in it and it basically showed off her figure to the max. A small heart shaped locket and a simple gold watch were the extent of her jewelry. Anything else would have been overkill.

When I told her how great she looked, she grinned and replied, "Well, thank you sir. You don't look half bad yourself." She looked me up and down, back and front, and then asked, "Where'd you hide the bells, I don't see them."

I chuckled and replied, "I forgot all about them in the rush to find something to wear."

She grinned again and said, "In that case, I'll just have to hold on to you, so I don't lose you."

"You won't have to worry about me getting lost, I'll be holding onto you for dear life. That is, when I not fighting off the amorous advances of a bunch of dirty old men." I replied with a grin of my own. "Shall we go?"

"This reminds me of our senior prom." She said as she picked up a small black handbag from the table next to the door.

As we went out the door I said, "Nope. You ain't got nearly as much hair as you did then and I ain't wearing a cheap rental tuxedo. You were pretty back then but you're a knock out now."

Sandy chuckled and said, "Flattery will get you everywhere."

The dance was held at a local reception center and we were fashionably late. I will say that we turned a lot of heads, at least Sandy did; and no one laughed at me, so I felt better. I also felt better when I saw that I wasn't the only one dressed like a dude rancher. We were told by several people that we made a cute couple, so I guess word about our necking in the parking lot of the restaurant had gotten around. On the other hand, it could have been the fact that we couldn't keep our hands off each other. Either I had my arm around her or she had hers around me. After the usual round of introductions, we found the bar and then a table to sit at.

Sandy was pleased to find out that I had learned to dance and took full advantage of it. Me, I just enjoyed holding her in my arms as we moved around the dance floor. I was quite rusty as we started out but it quickly came back to me. As the night progressed, we danced most of the dances together but every so often, we would end up dancing with other people. On these occasions, I found myself watching Sandy with a smile on my face.

Around midnight, the couple that was doing the D.J. duties, decided to turn the musical clock back to the early sixties. Most of it was the old rock, which I hadn't cared much for back then and cared even less for now. Sandy and I danced a couple of the fast songs, laughing as we tried to remember the old dances. We sat out the next two songs and then they played the last song we had danced to at our senior prom. I know it was Floyd Cramer and I think the name of it is Last Dance. I do know we were on our feet and on the dance floor along with nearly everyone else there.

Sandy snuggled up to me as we danced with her head against my chest. After a moment, she sighed deeply and looked up at me smiling. "This brings back a lot of memories, good ones at that. Do you remember where we went after this dance was over?"

"We went parking out at the overlook. Us and about a hundred other couples; they needed a traffic cop out there that night." I grinned and added in a whisper, "That was the night I first touched your breasts."

She grinned back at me and nodded. "Shall we go see if the overlook is still there? They redid the highway along this side of the lake about ten years ago and put a new cut off in. I haven't been out the lakeside road since they did that."

"There's one way to find out." I said. She grinned and snuggled back up to me.

When the dance ended, we made our goodbyes and headed for my truck, holding hand and grinning at each other like a couple of school kids. I remember us as being the same way, back then. Only I wasn't nearly as nervous now as I was then. Excited, yes, but not nervous.

When we got into the truck, Sandy slid over and cuddled up next to me. I started the truck and slipped my right arm around her shoulders. As we pulled out of the parking lot, Sandy chuckled and said, "Your old car had a four speed on the floor, so you never did put you arm around me. Your hand usually ended up on my knee and stayed there, which frustrated the hell out of me. I kept hoping it would slide up along my thigh but it never did. For a good girl, I sure had some bad thoughts back then."