Looking Through The Lens

http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/ryansylander/www/

Chapter 2

Back Home

I spent a few melancholy mornings on the pier trying to recapture the feeling of fishing with my friend.  But it was more depressing than therapeutic, even though suddenly I was catching three times as many fish as when she was with me.  After a while I realized I was hoping to see her walking down the deck, even though she was gone.  Eventually I stopped going to the pier.

Julie and Lara tried to hang out with me, but I wasn’t much in the mood for wild water games.  They kept their distance after a few rejections.  Mostly I played my guitar and lay low for two or three days, wondering if there was a way to find out her name.  I could go into Martin’s and ask around, but felt a bit weird about that.  But what would knowing her name help?  So I resigned myself to the situation, and just reminisced and self-pitied.

A few nights after she left, there was a knock on my door.  Lara came into my room.  I was on my bed picking on my guitar. 

“C’mon, get up.  You’ve been playing that thing all day,” said Lara.

“So what.”

“We’re going out.”

“Out?  Where?”

“Somewhere, anywhere.  C’mon!”

I didn’t want to move, but I thought getting out would help my lonely feelings go away for a while.  I sat there for a few moments.

“Alright.  Lemme put on some clothes, I’ll be right out.”

A few minutes later I was ready, and Lara pulled me out the porch and onto the beach.  We started off towards town.  Lara was walking fast.  When we headed off down the path to the pier, I had a feeling I knew how the night was going to end up.

Sure enough, when we reached the gazebo, I heard familiar voices.

“What took so long?” asked Julie.

“Matt was being a lazy-ass,” said Lara.

“Hi Julie,” I said.

“Hi Matt.  Have some Jack.”

I took the mostly full bottle from Julie’s outstretched hand, and took a good swig.  I passed the bottle to James, who was sitting on the top of the bench.

Being on the pier and buzzed was a bad mix, and after a while I was feeling depressed about the situation with the pier girl.  Was she going to tell me she was leaving if I hadn’t asked?  Maybe she was not really gone, maybe she just didn’t want to hang out anymore.  More than a few thoughts of rejection went through my head as I stared off.

“We’re going to walk to the end of the pier,” announced Lara.  “Are you coming?” she asked me.  She shrieked.  “James, quit it!”

“Nah, I’ll stay here,” I slurred.  Evidently James had tickled her.  I wasn’t sure if I should walk down a narrow pier just then, given my state. 

“Alright, we’ll be back soon.”

James and Lara walked off, and to my surprise instead of going with them, Julie scooted over next to me, propping her legs up on the bench.

“You’re quiet tonight,” she said, looking at her hands.

“I guess.  Just one of those quiet moods.” 

There was a period of silence.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked.

“Mad at you?  No, why would you say that?”

“Well, I thought we were having a good time the last week,” she said slowly, “and then the last few days you went away.  You seem to be ignoring me.”

I took a breath and thought about it.  Was she right?  I had been avoiding hanging out and hadn’t considered her feelings.  But I wasn’t sure what to say.  Somehow I knew telling her about the pier girl would be the wrong approach.

“No, Julie.  I was just in a funk.  Still am.  Nothing about you.  I’ve been having a good time, really.”  My words sounded muddy.  When she didn’t say anything, I went on.

“I’m sorry if it seemed like I was ignoring you.  I was just deep in thought.”

“About what?”

About what?  What could I possibly be moody about, being fourteen and on vacation at the beach?  I thought for a second, but I could only think of the pier girl.

“I don’t know,” I said at last.  “I’m sorry I’m such a downer though.”

“No you’re not.  I’ve had a lot of fun with you this summer,” she said, looking up at me with big eyes.

I looked at her through the slight fog of the whiskey.  She held my gaze.

“I have too,” I said quietly. 

Neither of us looked away for what seemed like a minute.  Suddenly we both leaned in and I kissed her softly.  She eagerly returned the kiss.  Her lips parted slightly and I felt her tongue tentatively touch mine as we moved closer.  The kiss gradually got more heated until we broke off, breathing hard.

“I was hoping you’d do that,” she said, her eyes dancing in the dim light of the shore houses.

For lack of anything to say, I pulled her close and kissed her again.

A while later, we heard Lara and James coming back, so we untangled ourselves and got up to stretch.  My lips were tired from the kissing, but it had been incredibly sweet, so I didn’t mind.  We didn’t go beyond heavy kissing and a bit of tame groping, but I was very aroused.  I was in a much better mood, although I still had something missing inside me. 

“We thought you fell off,” I said.

“Nah, just talking,” said James quickly.  I couldn’t tell in the light, but his shirt looked skewed and Lara’s hair was looking a touch wilder than when they had left us.  I had a feeling they had been having their own lip battle.

“Is there anything left in the bottle?” asked Lara.

“Yeah, here,” I said, passing her the whiskey.  I was done for the night.  Lara took a swig, and gave Julie a long look, which she returned.  I thought I saw a slight nod from each of them, but I was drunk and wasn’t sure.

“We should head back,” said Lara, cheerily.  “It’s getting late.”

James said his goodbyes at the turn off to head towards his house.  Julie, Lara and I stumbled down the beach.  I had my arm around each girl’s waist, and between our six legs we managed the walk along the beach well enough.  We were being quite noisy, though no one was out at this hour.

When we got to the house, fortunately no one was home yet.  I shared a private smile with Julie before she went into Lara’s room.  I wished I could have gotten one more kiss, but I wasn’t bold enough to kiss her in front of my sister.

I thought about the pier girl and about Julie for a long while before I passed out into a deep sleep.

Julie and Lara were hanging out in the ocean the next day, working off their hangovers.  I waded out to join them, and Julie and I shared a private smile.

“So James asked about our parents last night,” Lara said.

“So you really were talking,” I said with a smirk.

“Of course we were, what did you think we were doing?  Swapping tongues like you and Julie?” said Lara.  Julie turned bright red, and I felt my face heating up too. 

“Lara, we, we…” said Julie.

“So what did he say?”  I asked quickly, returning to the subject at hand.

“He thought it was cool.  He kind of figured it out by watching.  He was confused about our names though.”

“Yeah, I suppose he would be.”

Lara and I had been born Lara Jackson and Matt Birch.  After our father had died, our mothers combined our last names to Jackson-Birch.  They wanted us as siblings to have the same last name, to keep our family bond.

“Speaking of…” said Julie, looking at the shore.  James was walking down the sand.  He tossed his towel aside and waded in.  James was a good looking guy, and I could see why Lara was interested in him.  He looked like he worked out enough to keep in shape, and he had a sharp-cut Scottish face, which showed no signs of a night of heavy drinking. 

“Hey, you are a sorry looking lot,” he said.  Lara splashed him in answer.

The four of us lounged in the waves, no one really with much energy to do anything but float and occasionally comment on something.  After a while, Lara and James floated away from us.

“Sorry about that before.  She was kissing with James too,” Julie said. 

“I figured as much,” I said.  There was a few moments of quiet as we watched Lara and James.  I didn’t feel as comfortable with Julie in the light of the day as I had last night under the influence of the whiskey.

“So what’s the plan for today?” I asked, moving away from the suddenly uncomfortable subject of last night’s kissing.

“We thought maybe another bike ride.  After lunch I have to check in on the house I’m house-sitting for, but after that we can go.”

“That sounds good.”

There was another stretch of silence as my brain searched for something to say.  All I could think about was that I had nothing to say.  I started wishing I had stayed in bed.

The next twenty minutes went by like molasses, as I desperately tried to keep a conversation going.  By the time my Mom came out and called out lunch, I felt like an idiot.  As we walked out onto the sand, Julie seemed as cheery as ever, but to me the events of the night before seemed to be slipping away like the seawater off her smooth body.

By the time we went out on the bike ride, I had come to the conclusion that last night was just a fluke and that Julie thought I was an idiot.  Seeing her and Lara confer in quiet tones and then giggle a few times during lunch didn’t help either.

I knew it wasn’t my day when my bike developed a flat tire a few miles from the house.  I called out ahead to the others as I slowed to the side of the road.

“Must have rode over a thorn or a tack,” I said, examining the tire.

“What should we do?” asked Julie.

They stood around on the bikes as I checked the tire.  I’m not sure what I expected to do without a pump, but I didn’t know what else to do besides stare at the tire glumly.

“We’ll ride back and have Aunt Beth come back and pick you up,” said Lara.

“Alright.  I guess I’ll wait over there in the shade,” I said, pointing up the road to a stand of bushes and trees that offered a cool place to sit.

“We’ll be back in a while.” 

Lara and James rode off.  I felt my heart sink when I saw Julie was staying behind.  Great, another half-hour of torturous silence, I thought.  She climbed off her bike and came over to where I was still pretending to examine the tire.

“Do you mind if I wait here with you?” she asked shyly.

“No, that’s cool,” I said.  “Thanks,” I added. 

I stood up and started pushing my bike towards the shady area.  Julie got her bike and followed.  She sat down right next to me.

“I can’t believe I got a flat.  This sucks,” I said.

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” she said, looking at me coyly.  I looked at her for a second.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean that, I meant my tire getting flat,” I said quickly.

“Maybe it was meant to happen.”

I was surprised to feel her head lean against my shoulder.

“Maybe.  You didn’t have to wait here with me.”

“I wanted to.”

We sat in quiet for a minute, my head a confusion of thoughts. 

“I think when we get back to town I’ll go in and…”

I stopped when I felt her lips on my neck.  A wave of relief flooded over me.

I turned to her and kissed her gently.  All the stupid thoughts in my head disappeared.  An approaching car broke us out of our embrace.

“I’ve wanted to do that all day,” she said, her eyes dreamy. 

“So you poked a hole in my tire before we left?” I asked teasingly, tickling her.

“No!” she squeaked as she squirmed away from my hands.  She tried to turn and move away, but I kept an arm around her waist. 

“Matt!  No fair!” she said, laughing uncontrollably.  She started tickling me back.  I’m fairly ticklish, and in the heat of the moment I grabbed her arms and pushed her onto her back, pinning her down with my leg and body.  Our faces ended up a few inches apart.  She continued her struggles half-heartedly for a few moments, before giving up and looking at me, breathing heavily. 

I kissed her hard.  I could feel her smooth legs against mine, the rise and fall of her chest.  Our arousal grew as we kissed passionately, slowly moving against each other. 

A passing car horn scared the crap out of us.  We jumped up, staring after the station wagon.  Neither of us recognized the car, so it was probably some smart-ass who thought we were having too good a time.  And they were probably right, considering we were on the side of the road.

“Sorry, I got carried away,” I said.

“I liked it,” said Julie.  She gave me a lusty look and wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in for another kiss.  When she tried to pull me back to the grass, I broke away from her lips.

“Maybe we should wait, or something,” I said, “I mean someone might drive by again and see us.”

“So what?”  She flitted her tongue into my mouth teasingly.

“So, it might be my aunt next time.” 

“Let’s go behind the bushes then,” she said, a wild look in her eyes.

“I don’t know, they could be here any minute,” I said.

I looked at her. 

“When we get back we’ll figure something out,” I said.  I had no idea what, but it seemed to mollify her.  We kissed gently and more carefully, keeping watch for cars, until Melissa arrived to pick us up.  I silently breathed a sigh of relief that my Mom hadn’t driven by when we were on the ground. 

Julie held my hand quietly in the back the whole ride home, and if my Mom noticed, she didn’t show it.

When we got back to the house, Julie had a hungry look in her eyes.  Lara and James were getting ready to go swim and asked if we wanted to join them, but I wanted to find somewhere to be with Julie alone.  I wasn’t sure if there was anywhere that wasn’t obvious, though.  Retreating to my room seemed impossible with all the adults around. 

I took Julie outside to the beach and looked around.  Besides some beach grass here and there, there wasn’t much to offer any privacy.  I couldn’t think of any place to go.  The pier offered no shelter in the daylight.  I made a mental note to find some secluded areas within walking distance of the house. 

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

“How about your room?”

“My aunt and parents are inside.”

“We’ll be quiet.”

I thought for a second.  Who would have thought this had to be so difficult?  Maybe it didn’t have to be.

“You go in first, and if it’s clear, go in my room.  Then after a few minutes I’ll come in,” I said.  I winced at the childishness of the situation.

Julie practically ran inside.

“Slow down!” I whispered to Julie, and to the butterflies in my stomach.

A little while later I went inside.  My parents and Beth were on the porch chatting.  No one seemed to notice me, so I walked down the hall and into my room, breathing a sigh of relief when I locked the door.

Julie wasn’t there.

“Julie?” I said quietly.

The folding closet doors spread open and Julie came out into the room.

“I didn’t know if it was going to be your aunt.”

Suddenly I laughed, a bit loudly. 

“Shh…!  What’s so funny?” asked Julie.

“We’re like five-year-olds, sneaking around,” I said.

“Well, no one knows we’re here,” she said.

“We have to be quiet, the porch is right out there,” I said, pointing.

“OK, no more talking then.” 

Julie came up and wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing me passionately.  I pulled her into me and let my hands caress her back.  Our kissing grew more intense.  She let out a slight moan as I pressed my tongue into her mouth. 

I quickly started getting aroused.  Her chest was pressed into mine and I could feel her hard nipples against my skin.  I was a little self-conscious about having Julie feel my growing erection, so I loosened my embrace and stepped back to sit on the bed.  I thought she would sit next to me, but to my surprise she straddled my lap and resumed our heated kiss.  Any chance of not having her notice it now was gone as she planted herself firmly down on my pelvis. 

While I was kissing Julie I was partly in disbelief.  Here I was in my room, making out with an admittedly sexy girl, when just yesterday I was sulking over the pier girl.  It was all happening too fast, and I could barely register the intense feelings of pleasure that I felt as we kissed. 

At the same time, a corner of my brain was still thinking survival, and after what seemed like an hour of kissing I thought we should probably return to the beach to avoid any suspicion.  I didn’t know what my parents would think if they knew what was going on, but I didn’t want to find out if I could avoid it.

“We should go back out.  It’s been fifteen minutes,” I said, breathing a bit hard.

“Really, you were timing it?”

“No!  I just happened to look at my clock when I came in.”

“I know, I was just kidding,” she said, with a laugh.

We gathered ourselves, and decided I would go out first, and make sure everything was clear.  Then I would wave Julie out.  That five-year-old feeling returned again as I opened the door and looked out.  Everything was the same, so Julie followed me out to the kitchen.  The adults were still on the porch.

“Go out and I’ll meet you on the beach,” I said.  Julie pulled me to her and kissed me.  I struggled for a second before pulling away.

“Quit it!  They could see us!” I whispered, but had to laugh when I saw the look in Julie’s eyes.  She gave me a wink as she walked out to the porch.  I watched her firm legs, thinking that I could get used to this.

For the rest of the day Julie seemed to be testing the boundaries of how close to the adults she would kiss me.  In the hallway with the adults right around the corner in the kitchen, in the bathroom with the door wide open, and out on the porch were just a few of the places she grabbed me for a quick, but hot kiss.  Finally when she slipped me the tongue in the kitchen right behind Sarah, who was making dinner, I pushed her quietly but urgently towards my room.

“Are you crazy!?” I said, as I shut the door behind us.  She just stood there smiling at me. 

The next thing I knew we were on the bed, groping and kissing heatedly.  The teasing had gotten us both worked up, and suddenly the dam broke.  Julie was on top of me, moaning softly and grinding her hips against mine while she tried to put her tongue down my throat.  I worked my hands over her jean cutoff shorts and across her thighs. 

It was hard to believe what was going on.  She had always been Lara’s friend in Montauk, and until this year I had never thought of her as anything but that.  And now she was here in my bed as hot as could be.  Had I missed something?  Part of me was in ecstasy over the feelings her mouth and body were giving me, while another part of me wondered what had gotten into her.  And could I keep up with it?

I decided to enjoy the pleasure and worry about everything else later.

Julie pulled at my shirt, so I sat up and let her remove it.  She pushed me back down on the bed.  She rubbed her hands over my chest, before returning to kissing me.  I decided to see what would happen if I started lifting Julie’s tank top.  She felt what I was doing and raised up, grabbing the hem and peeling it off smoothly.  She threw it across the room onto my desk. 

I’d seen Julie in a bikini top all week, and while it was attractive on the beach, it was a whole different level of arousal when she was on top of me having just taken off her shirt.

When she came back down I could feel her hard nipples against my chest.  I fumbled with the strings that tied her bathing suit, and finally got them loose.  I had just untied the knot around her neck, when I heard “Lara! Matt, Julie! Dinner!” called out on the porch. 

Julie looked up. 

“Crap,” I said, “we need to go eat.”

“No,” she said, “let’s stay here.”

“We can’t, they won’t eat without us.”

“They may think we went for a walk.  They won’t find us.”

She leaned down and kissed me again.  I kissed back, not wanting to go either.

As if in answer to her statement, there was a knock on my door.  My heart was already racing, but it sped up a significant amount when I heard that knock.

“What?” I said, trying to keep my voice normal.

“Dinner time,” said Sarah.  “Have you seen Lara or Julie?”

“Um, no.”

“OK, come and eat, sweetie.”

For a brief second, neither of us moved.  Then there was a flurry of activity as Julie jumped up.  I started to get up, but was mesmerized by the sight of her breasts bouncing freely as she quickly put on her tank top. 

“Here,” I said, holding out the bikini she had left on my chest.

“Just hide it,” she said, tossing me my shirt.  She fixed her hair in the mirror.

I put the bathing suit under my pillow, and quickly put on my shirt.  Now what?  If everyone was seated for dinner, or in the kitchen, they would easily see Julie and I come down the hallway together. 

“Wait here,” I said.

I peeked out into the hallway.  I could hear Melissa and Beth in the kitchen.  I went back into my room.  Julie stood there expectantly.  She looked incredible, in her cutoffs and tank top.  Her nipples clearly were still hard.  I was too, for that matter.

“Everyone is out there,” I said, trying to figure out what to do.

“Let’s just walk out separately,” Julie offered nonchalantly.

“My parents would freak.”

“I don’t think so, they’re cool.”

“I don’t know.  I’d rather not.”

“I can say I was in Lara’s room.”

“No, her door is open.”

I looked around for an answer.

“I’ll go out the window,” Julie said.

“What?  It’s like seven or eight feet down.”  The house was on a bit of a slope, so my bedroom windows were not at ground level.

“I’ll be fine, give me a hand.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I protested.

“It’s either that or we walk out through the door.”  I looked at her for a moment, considering the options.  It was either risk an injury from the jump, or face the embarrassment of walking out to the kitchen together.

I opened the window and pushed up the screen.  There was nothing under the window, luckily.  Julie stuck her leg out, and then leaned over and kissed me hard for a few moments.  Then she smoothly slipped her body through so she was straddling the sill.  With some help from me, she managed to get her other leg out, and jump down.

“Ow!” I heard, as she landed with a dull thump.  I looked out.

“Are you alright?” I asked.  She was standing there holding her forearm.

“Yeah, just scraped it on the screen,” she said, showing me a 5-inch scrape from on her forearm.  She looked up and smiled at me.  

“I’m fine, see you at dinner,” she said, walking up to the road.

I looked at her, wishing she was still in my room.

When I came out to the kitchen, I hoped I didn’t look as worked up as I felt.  Sarah looked at me, and gave me a smile, asking me to help with setting the table.  I was glad for something to do. 

Lara came into the kitchen and helped with table setting.

“Where’s Julie?” she asked me.

“What?  I don’t know.”

“I thought she was with you,” said Lara.

I looked at her for a moment.

“No, she must have gone home.”

“Is she eating dinner with us?” Melissa asked me.

“How would I know, she’s Lara’s friend,” I said, a bit annoyed now. 

“She was with you last I saw,” said Lara, a smirk developing on her face.

I looked at her again, shooting daggers at her with my eyes.  ‘What the hell?’ I mouthed.  She just grinned back.

“I think she was eating here, but I don’t know,” I said.

“Better set her a place,” Sarah said. 

I gave Lara one more dirty look before I returned to setting the table.

A few minutes later the bell rang.  Beth opened the door and Julie came in, greeting everyone cheerily.  I looked at Lara, noting with satisfaction the surprised look on her face.  I think she was expecting to see Julie come out from the hallway, pretending to have been in her room or something.  She looked at me.  I just looked back at her, only letting a slight grin cross my face.

Sometime during dinner, Melissa asked Julie about her forearm scrape.

“Oh, that.  I scraped it on a window sill,” she said matter-of-factly.

I choked on a fish bone I had been working on in my mouth, coughing and reaching for my water. 

“Are you alright, Matt?” asked Melissa.  I thought her voice carried more mischief than concern.  I was probably just paranoid though.  Julie was looking at me with a grin.

“Yeah, just a fish bone,” I said, holding it out.

“I was trying to close the screen in my room at home and it was stuck,” continued Julie.  “Then my hand slipped and I scraped it against the sill.”

 “That’s a shame,” said Sarah.  “Windows can be dangerous,” she added cryptically, looking at me.  I studied my bowl of food.  There was an uncomfortable silence for a minute.

“You should get a tetanus shot,” offered Hans.  He went on to tell a lengthy story of his friend who didn’t get one.  I silently thanked Hans for the digression, though he probably didn’t know what he had done for me.

That night after dinner, Julie went home for the night, and I was out on the porch playing my guitar while the adults played gin in the dining room.  Lara was reading a book in the living room.  It was getting late when the game wrapped up and the adults started going to bed.  I was doodling on the guitar, mostly reliving the day’s events.  Melissa came out onto the porch.

“Goodnight Matt,” she said.

“Goodnight Mom.”

She looked at me for a moment as I played.  I finally looked up at her when she hadn’t gone back inside.

“You know,” she said, “We can buy you a rope ladder.”

My guitar playing skipped a beat.  So did my heart, which suddenly was in my throat.  She was standing with the light behind her, but even in the darkness I could see the mischief in her eyes.

“What?” I said, innocently.

“We can get a rope ladder.  It’s much better than jumping out of the window,” she said.

I felt pretty foolish all of the sudden.  I looked up at Melissa. 

“What…  How…?” I mumbled, and then stayed quiet.

Melissa sat down on the couch next to me.

“Matt,” she said, “clearly you and Julie have been, how should I put it… spending a lot of time together.”

“We’re just hanging out, just friends,” I said, somewhat lamely.

“It’s good to have friends.  It’s good to hang out,” she said.  “It’s good to be attracted to someone who is attracted to you.”

I was quiet for a few moments, vaguely strumming some chords.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked, tentatively.

Melissa laughed gently.  “Matt, you are still young.  Julie started trying to get your attention last summer.”

I stopped playing altogether.  Was she serious?  Last summer?  I never noticed anything until a few days ago.  I thought back to last summer, trying to see what I had missed.  My Mom smiled gently at me as she saw the gears turning.

“Trust me,” she said, putting her hand on my arm.

“Does Mom know?” I asked quietly.

“Well, she saw Julie jump out the window from the beach when she was looking for Lara.  So I think she probably knows,” she said with a grin.  “But we knew before that,” she added.  I winced when I started thinking of the moments where I thought my parents didn’t know what was going on.  I didn’t feel so smart all of the sudden.

“Is she mad?”

“Mad?” said Melissa, with a chuckle.  “No, neither of us are mad.  We were fourteen once, too,” she said, looking up and seeing an old memory for a few moments.

“But,” she continued, “why did you feel the need to sneak around with Julie?”

I sat for a moment.  Why did I feel the need? 

“I don’t know,” I said.  It was the truth.

“You can trust me, Matt.”

“I didn’t know what you and Mom would say.”

“Well, we’re more concerned about why you’re trying to hide, rather than what you’re trying to hide.  You’re not an adult yet, but if you want to start having a more serious relationship with someone, you need to act more serious as well.”

“I guess I know what you mean.  I felt childish when Julie went out the window.”

Melissa gave me a warm, knowing smile.

“I know you haven’t had much experience with girls,” she said, “so this must all be very new and exciting.  And while it is important to you, and to us, it’s not a problem for me and your mother.  I am happy to see you with Julie, someone who we care for a lot as well, and have known since she was four.  Plus with Lara and James … hanging out together, the four of you can have fun without it being awkward for you.”

At that point Sarah came out to the porch.  I put my guitar down.  She came over and sat next to me. 

“So serious out here,” she said.  “What’s going on?” she said knowingly.

“Matt and I were talking about rope ladders,” said Melissa.  The two women shared a laugh.  I didn’t think it was funny.

“I’m sorry I lied, Mom,” I said to Sarah. 

“Lied?  About what?”

“When you asked if I had seen Julie.  She was in my room with me,” I said, forcing out the words.  “I was desperate not to get caught, I guess.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.  It seems dumb now.”

“Sweetie, don’t worry about it.  I think it’s great that you and Julie are spending time together.”

“You do?”

“Yes, Julie is a great person.  She is almost like a daughter to us.”  Melissa nodded in agreement.

“I want you to promise me though,” Sarah said seriously, “that you will be responsible.  Having a relationship of any kind carries responsibilities.  While some exploration is okay, you and her are only fourteen.”

I had a uncomfortable idea where this talk was going.

“In the heat of the moment, you may want to, well, explore further with Julie,” said Melissa. “But like your mother said, you have responsibilities, to Julie and to yourself.  If you don’t feel that you can be responsible, then you need to keep things at a level where you can be.”

I couldn’t believe I was suddenly having this talk with both of my parents.  If I had been told a week ago I would be in this situation, I would have laughed.  I stayed still and listened, staring at my guitar.   When I didn’t say anything, they went on.

“Matt, what we are saying is that you have your whole life ahead of you,” continued Sarah.  “Take your time.  Don’t rush things and do something you will regret later.  Respect yourself and respect Julie.”

I thought about the window incident, and that didn’t feel very respectful to Julie.

“I will, I promise,” I said, as much to myself as to them. 

“We are going to bed,” said Melissa, giving me a hug.  “Don’t go to sleep too late.  Julie won’t tolerate a sleepyhead.”

“Okay,” I said.

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

I turned and gave Sarah a hug. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

They stood and walked to the door.

“Do you still want me to get you a rope ladder?” asked Melissa, turning to look at me.

“No, next time she’ll come out through the house with me,” I said with confidence.

“Next time?” said Sarah questioningly, arching an eyebrow.

“Well, I meant, if, well…”  I stammered

“I was just kidding, sweetie,” she said.  “Goodnight.”

I breathed out a long breath.  I felt like I had been holding it for the last ten minutes.  I lay down on the couch in silence for a long time, absorbing everything I had heard.  Had Julie really liked me last summer?  I hadn’t noticed, or paid much attention to her, I had to admit.  Then again, there was a lot of things I didn’t notice, as my parents had just proven to me thoroughly just now.

I woke up to a strange sound, in a strange place.  At first, I thought (or hoped?) Julie was sneaking into my room.  But as I brushed the sleep from my head, I realized I was still on the porch couch.  And someone was trying to quietly enter the porch door.  At first I panicked, thinking it was a thief.  But then the person caught a bit of the light from the living room, and I saw that it was Lara.  She came in quietly and closed the porch door.

“Hey,” I whispered.  Lara jumped back and grabbed at her chest.

“Shit, Matt!  You scared the shit out of me!  What the hell are you doing there?”

“I fell asleep on the couch.  Sorry.  What are you doing though?  What time is it?”

“I don’t know.  Late.  Don’t tell our parents, OK?”

“Of course not, you know I wouldn’t.”

“Cool.”  Lara came over and sat on the couch, turning on a small light.  She let out a breath.

“So what were you doing?” I asked again, though I had a suspicion when I smelled alcohol on her breath.

“Me and James were hanging out on the beach.”

 “I thought you were reading,” I said.

“I was.  After they went to bed I snuck out to the beach to meet him.  I didn’t even see you when I went out.”

And I thought my deal with Julie was risky.

 “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s alright, I just thought you were Mom for a second.”

We sat in silence for a while.  Finally Lara spoke.

“So, what’s up with you and Julie?  I thought she was with you this afternoon, and that you were in your room together.”

“She was,” I confirmed.

“But, she went home?  When?  I didn’t see her leave.  She didn’t grab her beach stuff or anything.”

“Mom saw her leave.”

“What are you talking about?  She asked if Julie was coming to dinner.  I’m confused.”

I laughed quietly.

“What’s so funny!?” she said, hitting my arm.

“She was pretending to not have seen Julie leave.”

“What, why?”

“She was teasing me.”

“You’re not making any sense.  Why would Mom tease you, if she saw Julie…”  Lara trailed off.  I waited.

“Oh.  The window story was partly true, wasn’t it?” she asked.

“Yeah.  When Mom went out looking for you for dinner, she saw Julie jump out of my window.”

“Why didn’t you just walk out through the hallway, like normal people?” she asked.

“Because it would have been obvious what we were up to.”

“So what, it’s not a big deal.”

“Then why are you sneaking out at night?” I asked pointedly.

“Alright, alright.  So what happened?”

I briefly recounted my conversation with our parents.

“They seemed awfully cool about it, in retrospect,” I said finally.

“Yeah.  I hope they’re like that with me if they find out about me and James.”

I laughed.

“What now?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing.” I said.  Lara looked at me seriously, gripping my arm.

“You don’t think they suspect I’ve been sneaking out, do you?”

I didn’t know that, but I wasn’t going to underestimate my parents, right after being schooled by them on what they knew and didn’t know.

“I don’t know, but they definitely know you and James are up to something.”

“Really?  Are you sure?”

“Yeah.  I wouldn’t worry about it, although sneaking out at night might not go over so well if they find out.”

“Yeah.  I better be more careful,” she said thoughtfully.

I was about to suggest stopping the practice, but that seemed like a motherly thing to say, so I kept quiet.

We sat in silence, as Lara absorbed what I had told her.  A light turning on in the kitchen snapped us out of our trance.  We sat still, wondering if whoever it was would see our porch light.

“Matt? Lara?” asked Melissa, peeking through the door.

“Hi, Mom.”

“What’s going on?  It’s two in the morning!”

“Lara and I were talking after you went to bed, and then we fell asleep on the couch, and just woke up.  Everything’s fine,” I said.

“OK, you two need to go to bed.  It’s late.  Good night.”  She went back to her room.

“Thanks for covering for me,” Lara said as we stood up.

“No problem.”

She gave me a tight hug, and we went back into the house to sleep.

Forward to Chapter 3

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