Full Frame
15
Happy New Year!
“THAT WAS PRETTY DARING of you,” I said as I drove Janice home.
“Did you like it?”
“Well, yes. But, Janice, you know that this is a business with me. I’m not like falling in love with you. Lust a little, but not love,” I said.
“Yeah, I know. Geez, I’d never show you my tits if I thought I was going to marry you. It gives me something to look forward to with Pete. I like knowing it turns you on, though.”
“Well, yeah. Of course it does. I just don’t want you to feel like you have to do this or that I’m going to, like date you. You know?”
“You know, mister, with that attitude, I’m likely to get completely naked with you next time. I mean it, Nate. Knowing you’re looking at me and that you like what you see, but I don’t actually have to put out for you is really liberating. I know I’m never going to be a Playboy bunny like Patricia, but I like feeling that I’ve got something that guys might want. Maybe I’ve even found one guy who really wants it all,” she said.
“I hope you have, Janice. Just don’t put a lot of pressure on anyone, okay? Thank you for being so free with me. I really do love seeing you… um… being free.”
“Flashing you. Yeah. That was for free.”
“Maybe so, but this is from my client for getting the picture he wants for his calendar. It has nothing to do with the picture that’s just between the two of us.” I handed her the twenty dollars that I’d promised her. When we just worked together for fun, all we needed was our agreement. But when we were working on a specific project, I felt that my models should definitely be paid.
“Thank you, Nate. I’ll put this in my costume fund. See you later!”
She jumped out of the car and headed for her house.
I had the car for the afternoon, so I headed toward Huntertown. I turned up Main Street and saw Christine walking up the street toward the studio. I pulled into a parking spot and called out to her.
“Hey, I was just coming up to see if you were in the studio. I’m bored,” she said.
“I’ve been doing a location shoot and am just heading into Huntertown. Want to go along?” I asked.
“Sure. Why not?” She hopped into the car and I headed out of town. “What are you shopping for?”
“A calendar,” I said. I explained the whole thing about my father wanting to do something special for his boss and replace the missing calendar. I told her about having Janice pose for it.
“You chose Janice instead of me?” Christine asked with a little pout.
“Well, it just happened that I ran into Janice while I was trying to figure out what I’d do about a model and all. I’d actually thought of you, but I’m kind of glad we didn’t do this one. Janice was perfect for it and really got into the posing.”
“I’ll bet she did,” Christine giggled. “Um… Nate, you won’t take advantage of her, will you?”
Boy, the girls in my class sure seemed to look out for each other. I thought immediately of Ronda checking to see if she should protect Christine from me.
“I really try not to take advantage of any model, Christine. I think I’m in kind of a unique situation. For some reason, you all seem to think it’s okay to be like… a little crazy when I’m taking your pictures.”
“Did she flash you?”
“Well, yes. That’s what I mean. She wanted me to take the picture, but I talked to her about not thinking that means more than it does,” I said. I wasn’t sure why I felt it was so important for Christine to be okay with it.
“Judy and Janice are a little unsure of themselves. You know they used to be best friends with Patricia? I’m glad to see they’re hanging out together some again. Patricia, for as wild as she appears to be, was always the one to keep Judy and Janice from getting too crazy. When they had their little falling out, it’s like Judy and Janice lost a rudder or something. It’s like they suddenly got boobs and didn’t know what to do with them. They kind of dare each other to do things just to see how people will react. Fortunately, it usually just comes out in their costumes,” Christine said.
“I get that. We live in a crazy time. We hear all about the hippies and drugs, sex, and rock and roll. It’s like we’re all supposed to be having sex with everyone we meet. Even our music makes it seem that way,” I said.
“It’s not, like, terrible, you know?” Christine said. “I think we should be free and all. I just think we should be able to make our own decisions and not randomly screw people just because the hippie culture says free love is okay.”
I nodded and we rode in silence for a little. I really liked Christine. It wasn’t just because she was cute and a little daring in the studio. She was really thoughtful, too. Her suggestions with Allison and willingness to help with makeup, so this kind of homely senior had a really nice picture was part of why I liked her. At the moment, I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d have this conversation with, let alone just randomly ask if she wanted to go to Huntertown with me. I certainly couldn’t think of another classmate who would do it. Maybe if I’d lived here all my life, people would all seem like that. I didn’t know.
“I don’t feel like you are taking advantage of me, either,” she said after a while. “I know you’ve taken pictures of me that show more than I’ve ever shown any other boy. I didn’t feel bad about that. I feel like you respect me and I appreciate the art of what we’ve done. If I thought you were only interested in my tits, I’d never set foot in your studio again. But the Christmas set? That was really fun to do. And my favorite picture from the set is going to be the one where I’m sitting on your… um… Santa’s lap. Can I see them when I come over tomorrow? We really haven’t had time to get together since we did the set.”
“Christine, I loved doing all the sets we’ve done and I love every single one of the pictures we’ve done. I feel… well, with you, I feel honored that you’d do some of those things with me in the same room, let alone with me taking your picture. It’s really different than working with anyone else. I feel like I’m a convenient safe person for Judy and Janice. With Patricia, she’s free because her boyfriend trusts me and encourages her. I really don’t know what to think about any of the cheerleaders, though I really have to show you one of the pictures of Lori I took this week. I won’t be showing anyone else for a while, I don’t think, but she really brought out something more than sexuality. It was truly artistic. I feel like I can share that with you and you won’t judge either her or me. You’ll judge the photo.”
“I’m glad you feel that way. Show me tomorrow. I have an idea for our shoot. If the photo is that good, maybe it will give me other ideas,” she said with a little lilt to her voice.
“That would be great. I got a new camera for Christmas. You would not believe it. So far, I’ve been afraid to even use it on one of my projects. Will you be my model for me to experiment with the new camera? That would really be great.”
She agreed and I pulled into the bookstore in Huntertown and we went about finding a 1967 calendar I could replace the photo on.
I had a good time shopping with Christine and she helped pick out the perfect calendar. We stopped and had a Coke at Gertie’s and I took her home. Then I went to the studio and processed the film. I chose the perfect photo from the batch to print for the calendar and carefully made an archival print of it. I figured it would be on display in the station for years to come. After I had it good and rinsed, I put it in the drying rack where it would sit for the next 24 hours to dry. I needed to put a protective piece of plastic over it, too. Then I printed another copy for my own wall display and printed the picture of Janice with her boob out for my personal portfolio.
I had an enlargement of Lori’s special photo on archival paper drying there and checked it. She would love it. I was so pleased with it, I was just going to give her the premium print.
I was actually considering hanging one in my gallery. I’d not hung any nudes in the gallery, but this was so artistic that I seriously considered it.
New Year’s Eve or not, it was still Saturday and laundry had to be done before I could go to my studio and meet Christine. I was just finishing up the ironing when Mom came by.
“Don’t forget the party tonight at the EUB in Huffington,” she said. “It was so nice of their youth group to invite ours. Maybe one of the nice girls you’ve been photographing would like to go. Dad said the one… Janice?... you photographed at the garage yesterday was very nice. I’d like to see the picture.”
“Sure, Mom. You know it’s kind of a cheesecake thing for a garage calendar. The print will be dry tomorrow. These archival prints take a long time to dry.”
“Okay. Show it to me then, dear.”
I’d forgotten all about the youth party in Huffington. I really wasn’t very enthused.
“Hi! Come on in and take off your boots. Let me take your coat,” I said when Christine arrived at the studio. She brought her little bag that I recognized as a makeup kit now. Aside from that she didn’t have much with her. She was wearing a nice pair of wool slacks and a sweater that was not quite as tight as the one she’d worn for the Christmas photos. I brushed my hand over it and it was the softest thing I’d ever felt. The girls called these sweaters mohair.
I had the Christmas photos out on the table for us to look at. I’d print enlargements of anything Christine wanted from the set and had already printed pocket photos of the best ones. I’d already printed a copy of the last photo in the set, too.
She sat down and started to look through them, giggling a little at the picture of her with her torpedo breasts stuck out. But all the photos were good and she really liked them. She selected five that she wanted 5x7 prints of and one for an 8x10. Guess which one. Yeah. The same one I had in my private portfolio with her curled up on my lap.
“I already printed it for you,” I said. “Here.” I handed her the enlargement.
“I kind of look like I’m not wearing panties,” she whispered. “I was. I promise.”
“It’s just a picture, Chris. We could use a magic marker and draw a pair on if you want.”
She looked at me horrified and then spluttered in laughter when she realized I was joking.
“I think I’d rather you imagined that I wasn’t wearing any,” she said. “I just love these, Nate. I felt like we were having so much fun.”
“We were,” I answered. I shuffled the photos together so I could mark which negatives I’d need. Then I showed her the picture of Janice for the calendar.
“Oh, that is so cute!” she said. “You’re right. She was the perfect choice. She just gets into her costumes so much.”
“Well, barely in that one,” I said. I showed her the picture without the T-Shirt.
“Wow! I think she’s gotten bigger since last year’s gym classes. I guess we probably all have. Now put that one away where only you can see it. Where’s this great picture of Lori?” she asked.
I went into the bathroom and took the picture carefully from the drying rack and laid it out on the table. Christine just stared at it.
“If you can take pictures that make me look like that, I’ll undress right now,” she said at last.
“As much as I’d like that, we should focus on learning the new equipment today,” I laughed. “You really like this?”
“Nate, it’s just beautiful! In fact, the picture looks a whole lot better than Lori does. Don’t tell her I said that, please.”
“My lips are sealed. But you’re right. It was just a combination of everything coming together perfectly for that one shot. There are several other nudes of her. If she wants them, that’s fine. It was a good experience to work against the black backdrop. But as far as a picture I’d like to hang in my gallery, that’s the only one I’d consider,” I said.
“Well, I’m serious. When you’re confident you can shoot a picture of me like that one, I’ll undress for you. I guess I plan to sort of do that today, but not all the way.”
“What did you have in mind? You know I’ll take any picture of you you’d like. I might have some ideas for poses when I know what you’re wearing.”
“I got new lingerie for Christmas. It’s so pretty, I love it. But I can’t just go around showing my underwear to people. So, I’ll just show you and you can take pictures.”
“Are you sure, Christine? I’d love to see it and I’d love to photograph you in it, but you never have to try to one-up any other model or compete with them in any way. I’m still a beginner—especially with the new camera.”
“Nate, please don’t tell me you don’t want me to parade around in my new undies. I really want to and—I know you’ll see more of me than anyone else ever will, but let’s just do it.”
“What color lingerie?”
“Oh, it’s black.”
“Okay. Let me get the light blue backdrop down and I’ll set a table and some props for you,” I said. “You can go ahead and get ready.”
“There isn’t much to get ready,” she sighed. “Maybe I’ll go in the bathroom to take my clothes off, though. It seems so silly.”
“Christine,” I said and turned her toward me with my hands on her shoulders. “I’ll love whatever costume you choose and I’ll take great photos of you in it. But I’m not here to watch a strip show. You don’t have to perform by getting undressed out here. Go get comfortable and I’ll see you on the other side of the lens.”
“Thanks, Nate.” She took her little case and went into the bathroom.
I fastened the camera to the tripod and pulled the light blue backdrop. It would give a little shade to the background so there wouldn’t be as huge a contrast with the black lingerie. I was trying to decide what props and moved the table and a chair onto the backdrop. I finally decided that a telephone would be good. A teen girl might talk on the phone in her underwear. I’d keep the radio nearby and maybe the tea set. Those were things that she might do in her underwear. I really couldn’t think of anything else. I didn’t run around in my underwear at home.
“I’m ready,” she said. “Give me a minute to stop blushing before you start snapping.”
She stepped into the light on the set I’d prepared. I think we both spent a minute just looking at each other. This was sure not underwear like I’d ever seen in our laundry. Theoretically, I knew there were kinds of underwear that were sexier than what was in the Sears catalog. The photo of Sophia Loren on LIFE magazine in September certainly showed a sexy pair of underpants. They hardly covered anything. She didn’t really wear a bra. The sheer gown she wore was just embroidered over her nipples. Christine’s lingerie was every bit as nice as Sophia’s.
“Wow! I can’t imagine your parents gave you that for Christmas!” I blurted out.
The bra was low cut and the only solid fabric was on the underside of her breast where it obviously pushed things up and out. The lace that covered the rest was transparent enough that I could clearly see her nipples through it. The garter belt was pretty standard, I guess. Maybe it had a little more lace around the edges. Her panties were not quite see-through, but they didn’t cover all that much, either. They were cut high on her hips and had a lace panel between the waist and the gusset. She wore black mesh hose with a perfect seam up the back of her legs. When she turned around, the back of her butt was mostly bare and the garters ran down over those perfect spheres. She wore a high-heel slipper. And in case I didn’t mention it, she was drop-dead gorgeous.
“No! My parents wouldn’t give me something like this!” she giggled.
“I’m sorry. I mean… You said it was a gift,” I said lamely.
“Yeah, sort of. I got some money from my grandmother’s estate. I ordered this from the Frederick’s of Hollywood catalogue.”
“I’ve heard of that, but I’ve never seen one.”
“They aren’t usually out where men can find them unless they’re sneaking peeks at dirty pictures,” she giggled. “You know Miss Ludwig at the library? She’ll order just about any book or catalog that people ask for. Some of us were talking in Home Ec and decided we wanted to see what other kinds of underwear there were that weren’t in the JC Penney or Sears-Roebuck catalog. So, we asked her to order us one. Now she gets one every three months and we can go in and look at it. We have to copy down all the information we need to order something.”
“Well, you sure did a knockout job on this one. Christine, you’re just so beautiful!”
“You’re good for my ego, at least. Let’s take some pictures so I can at least say I had a reason for running around in front of you in my underwear.”
We started right in to work. She liked the idea of the old telephone and happily sat at the table chatting to no one as I moved the camera to different positions. I also just touched her arm to move it a little and made sure that curl that almost touched her eye was in the perfect location. The reason I moved her arm was actually to cover her nipple. If all the photos we took showed her nipples through the bra, I wouldn’t be able to display any of them.
After twelve shots, I had to change film, and I tried changing lenses, too. I moved back out of the light, clear across the room.
“Are you taking a picture of the whole room?” she asked.
“Not at all. With this lens, I could take a picture of a bumble bee’s stinger from ten feet away. But it gives a whole different feeling and depth of field. How about standing and turning away from me as if the phone just rang and you are answering it. Wait. Let’s add the radio on the table, too.”
After the scene adjustment, I started taking pictures as she slowly went through the motions of answering the phone. I was getting great pictures of a truly stellar butt. Beneath it were the perfectly aligned seams of her nylons. I’d heard several girls refer to them as FFNs and finally Chris told me that stood for Fully Fashioned Nylon stockings. They were hand sewn and were expensive compared to the newer style pantyhose. These days, girls only wore FFNs for special occasions or formal wear. I felt special.
“Chris,” I said sharply.
She turned her head and looked at me questioningly. I snapped the picture. We took another roll of film that included a lot of clowning around with ridiculous poses or expressions. I switched back to the Planar 100mm lens for this batch and stood up straight when I was about finished with the roll.
“Okay, I’ve got one more. How should we wrap this up?”
“Let me… um… Wait… I’ll just…” She reached behind her and unfastened the bra and whipped it off, throwing it at me I caught it and looked at it in my hand before I looked up at Christine, topless. “I didn’t know for sure if I’d do this, but I’ve done it now. So, let’s take this picture. It’ll just be for the two of us.”
She sat at the table and crossed her legs. She sat up straight with perfect posture and looked straight into the camera. Then she raised a hand and beckoned toward me with a finger. I snapped the picture. She had a sly smile on her face.
“Oh! You took the picture? I wanted you to come here and make sure that lock of hair you like was in the right place.” She continued to sit stock still and erect as I came and played with her hair a second.
“Yeah,” I said. “It was perfect.”
“Okay,” she said standing. “I’d better take this and go get dressed.” She took her bra off my shoulder and hopped into the bathroom. I glanced down and saw a wet spot on the front of my pants.
I locked up my equipment and portfolio, and set the film aside to process later. I also managed to adjust my cock so it wasn’t pressing out against my slacks. Chris came out of the bathroom dressed in her slacks and sweater again.
“So, big plans for New Year’s Eve?” she asked brightly, as if we’d just met on a street corner.
“Not much I’m really looking forward to. There’s a youth party at the Huffington EUB church and they invited the MYF here in Tenbrook to come. I’m probably the only one who’ll show up. How about you?”
“Oh, probably just sit up till midnight and watch the TV broadcast of the Times Square ball dropping while I try to avoid the little kids. If I stay awake that late.”
“Um… Reverend Mother Superior suggested that I invite that nice girl who modeled for me to go to the party tonight. Um… You wouldn’t be interested, would you?” So, this wasn’t exactly the girl Mom had referred to. No one needed to know that.
“Really? She meant me?”
“I really can’t think of anyone else she might have meant. I mean… I understand if you don’t want to go to a dumb church party and stay out till midnight.”
“Do we go now?”
“No. The party doesn’t start until 7:30. I didn’t figure I’d get there before 8:00. If you… If you… like, want to, you could come over and have dinner with us first. Dad’s making turkey soup tonight. He’s a pretty good cook on Saturdays.”
Chris’s eyes got huge and I thought she was just going to run for the door. Stupid geek asking a beautiful princess to a dumb church party.
“Why… I mean… Um… I was… just naked with you, Nate. Maybe we could hold off meeting your parents until I’ve managed to get over that. Could you just pick me up at seven-thirty?” she said.
“You mean you’d go?”
“Sure. I mean, like, it beats watching TV with the kids. If the party is really boring, I’ll act bitchy and you can make an excuse to take me home early.”
“Gee, thanks!”
“I was kidding. About getting bitchy. Yes, I’d love to go to the party with you. Thank you for asking.”
“Would you like me to… Oh, I guess I can’t. I was going to offer to take you home, but I walked over and didn’t drive.”
“That’s okay. It’s only a few blocks home. You remember where I live? I mean… of course, you do. You dropped me off there yesterday after we went shopping. Anyway, is that okay?”
“Yes! It’s great, Christine. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
“Um… Mom, I took your advice and asked Christine to go to the party tonight. I’m supposed to pick her up at seven-thirty,” I said at dinner.
“That’s nice, dear. Now which girl is Christine? You must have photos.”
I’d prepared for this while I was in the studio. I collected a few of my best photos of Christine that didn’t show her in underwear or nude. There were a lot of them, so I had a good assortment. They included my first pictures of her at the gravestone, and then with her looking back over her bare shoulder at me. That was one of the first photos I took in the studio. I had a nice portrait of her in the Greek gown with both shoulders fastened. And I had a cute picture of her looking up the chimney for Santa Claus. Mom looked at the pictures with Dad and Kat looking over her shoulder.
“She is very photogenic,” Mom said. “Does she go to church?”
“She attends Trinity Lutheran. She’s in a couple of my classes in school.”
“The party will end soon after midnight,” Mom continued. “Please be sure to be home by one. That’s a late curfew, but it’s a special night. Don’t go anywhere other than the party. If it’s too boring, you can go to her house if her parents are home or bring her here and we’ll play games until midnight. Understand?”
“Yes, Reverend Mother Superior,” I deadpanned.
“I haven’t decided yet to forgive you for that. When Father Emory called me that I almost dropped my teeth.”
The subject was changed and at the appointed hour I managed to escape with only a “Drive safely,” admonition.
Christine was wearing the same outfit she’d had on earlier in the day. I mean the wool slacks and sweater. Like me, she was also wearing a parka when I picked her up.
“I hope you don’t get bored by the party. My mother told me that we weren’t to go anywhere else unless we went back to your house, if your parents are home, or to my house where we’d play games until midnight. I hope the party is good.”
“Me, too. Going to my house would be the same as yours, I think. We’d end up playing Sorry with my twelve-year-old sister, Julie, or Chinese Checkers with my ten-year-old brother, Brian. And their friends. Your invitation tonight gave me an out from riding herd on the younger kids while our parents played cards.”
“Well, let’s plan to enjoy ourselves. If nothing else, I have my 35mm camera with me. We can play photography studio and take pictures of all the other kids at the party.”
“Do you think we could get them all to pose in their underwear?” she laughed.
“I hope you don’t think that’s the only kind of pictures I take. I’m still in awe of you and am thankful for every minute we’ve spent together. But I could have spent every minute of that time just taking pictures of your smile.”
“That’s sweet of you.”
We got to the church where the party was, and it was actually pretty fun. Andy and Karen came from our church and greeted Chris and me. Andy raised an eyebrow when he saw us together and it didn’t take long for Karen to get Chris aside and start pumping her for details. Brad and Elise came from our church, too.
I met several kids from Huffington. I was surprised to see one of Tony’s motorcycle friends and his girlfriend there, but I guess I’d already discovered that owning a motorcycle and being part of that gang didn’t necessarily mean the person was bad. Eric and Donna seemed like nice people.
There was a ton of food—we really wouldn’t have needed dinner before the party. And some of the same board games I suppose we would have played at home. Scrabble, Monopoly, and Parcheesi seemed to be popular. There were also some group games. We played that old game ‘Two Truths and a Lie’ as an ice breaker. It was hard for me to come up with things my date or classmates wouldn’t already know. I sure couldn’t use anything about photography.
“Nate?” the youth leader said.
“Um… I’m Nate Hart. Number 1: I have seventeen years of perfect attendance in Sunday School, starting the Sunday after I was born. Number 2: I cried when Old Yeller died. Number 3: I was in a TV special in Chicago. Two truths and a lie.”
Everybody laughed at them and wrote down their guesses. Then Chris got her turn.
“Hi. I’m Chris Evans. Number 1: I won a beauty pageant. Number 2: I kissed a boy on my first date. Number 3:…” She hesitated and squeezed my hand. Right up until that moment, I hadn’t realized we were holding hands. She looked at me and winked. I held my breath. Was she going to tell them she posed for me in her underwear? “Number 3: I have an older brother I only met this year.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and wrote down my answers. Then, like there were magnets attached to them, our hands reconnected. I just relaxed and enjoyed that sensation.
It came time to tabulate the guesses and we took turns telling each other what we thought was true and what was a lie. Andy and Karen had both written down that they had the same boyfriend or girlfriend since second grade. They were either both telling the truth or both lying. Turned out, it was true.
Kelly, a cute redhead from Huffington, looked at me and started to speculate. “Well, you were introduced as the preacher’s kid from Tenbrook, so I can well believe you were in church the Sunday after you were born. Seventeen years of it is hard to fathom, but I’ll have to say that’s true.” There were several kids who just said, ‘No way.’
Andy cut in, “Unless you have a hidden identity as a sadist, I’m sure you cried when Old Yeller died. Everybody does. So that means you weren’t in a TV special in Chicago.” They tallied up the votes and the youth leader turned to me.
“Nope. I didn’t cry when Old Yeller died. We watched it on Wonderful World of Disney on a Sunday night and I fell asleep half way through the movie. I was like six years old maybe? I never saw the end of the movie.”
“You were in a TV special?” Kelly asked.
“It was a broadcast about 4-H and how it helps keep kids out of trouble. There was a shot of me with my photography exhibit at the fair the year I won.”
“That’s cool.”
Elise and Grant got to do the guessing for Chris. “I have no doubt that you could win a beauty pageant, Chris. But I’ve known you for ten years or more and there haven’t been any beauty pageants that I’ve ever heard of. I’d have entered.” Elise primped her hair a little and smiled. She was a nice girl with a bubbly personality, but she was about fifty pounds overweight. People decided it was okay to laugh since she made the joke.
“Lots of girls kiss on the first date these days. That’s got to be true,” Grant said. “I want to know who. You were gone for a week to a funeral in September. I think you got surprised there.”
“Well, you’re right about the last one,” Christine answered. “Imagine my surprise when my father introduced me to a half-brother. I didn’t even know he’d been married before Mom, though I knew he was a little older. But I really did win a beauty pageant. Unlike Nate, my mother didn’t take me to church a week after I was born. She took me to a county women’s meeting and I won the ‘most beautiful baby’ award. And, Elise, I’m glad you weren’t there to enter it. I wouldn’t have won. The truth is, I never kissed a boy on my first date.”
“Aww,” murmured several kids.
“Yet,” she whispered when she leaned over toward me.
I found it hard to concentrate on anything during the rest of the party except Christine’s hand in mine. Yet.
At ten-thirty, the youth director set up a 16mm movie projector and showed a Christian film called The Family that Changed the World. It wasn’t bad, but a little heavy-handed on the message that Christ changes lives and changed lives change the world. The movie ended just before midnight and we counted down the seconds, then everyone blew noisemakers and jumped up and down. I turned toward Chris, thinking maybe this was the chance for that first date kiss, but she’d turned to talk to Elise and give her a hug. We helped clean up the fellowship hall where we’d been partying and took off.
Christine and I sat in the car in front of her house. Her parents’ last guests were just leaving, so we decided to wait until they drove away before we went to the door. On the way home, Christine had been a little closer to the middle of the seat where her hand was just able to touch the side of my leg. I really couldn’t take my hands off the wheel. There’d been another inch of snow while we partied and the roads hadn’t been plowed.
“I’m so glad you agreed to go to the party tonight. It would have been a real bust without you there,” I said.
“I don’t know. That Kelly Green sure looked interested in you. You might have left the party with a new girlfriend,” Christine laughed. That stung a little.
“Who’d I leave with?” I asked.
“Mmm. Let’s not go there yet, okay? I mean about calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. You’ve only been broken up with Anna for two weeks. You might see someone else at school you want to date. But we could still go out again if you want. Just… well, it shouldn’t be every week. Maybe I’ll see you at after-game dances, you know?”
“I guess I understand. I was sort of letting my fantasies run ahead of my brain.”
“Maybe your heart, Nate. Um… Don’t get mad if I happen to dance with someone else or go out. No one’s asked me out before so I doubt that will change. But just in case. I really want to be friends with you. More than anything else.”
“Christine, just being friends with you is far more than I could ever deserve. I really like you and I hope you’ll still let me take your picture.”
“We’ll see about that. Maybe if we’re dating sometimes, I shouldn’t model. At least, not until we feel comfortable with the other kind of relationship, whatever this becomes. I’ll still come over and do makeup and help choose pictures, though. I mean, if that’s okay,” she said.
“That’s really okay. And I think I understand. I really want to keep my business separate from my personal life. You know Anna still helps me set up yearbook photos and that sort of thing. I was afraid that when we broke up, it would mean she wasn’t my friend or interested in helping any longer. I’m relieved, I guess.”
“That’s just it,” Christine said. “I want to know we can keep work and dating separate. You’re way far advanced over where any of our classmates are in terms of having a career. Well, maybe some of the guys in auto shop class have a pretty good idea what they’re going to do for a living. I hope there are enough cars for all of them to work on. And a lot of the girls are focused on getting business skills so they can be secretaries or accountants or something.”
“What about you? What kind of work do you want to do? Not that it’s necessary to choose something while we’re juniors in high school.”
“I’m not sure. I’m taking all the business courses, but I don’t see myself becoming a secretary. I’d like to be someone like Miss Ludwig who just makes her life finding ways to help others. Only, maybe not as a ‘miss.’ I would like all the happily ever after stuff. I’m taking all the Home Ec classes, too.”
“Well, we have time. I think it’s kind of weird that I decided years ago to become a photographer and it still holds my interest.”
“With models like you are getting now, I can’t see how it could help but hold your interest,” she giggled.
“I’m really privileged. You know my uncle in Chicago has been promoting my photography? He said not to be surprised if I get models traveling out all the way from Chicago to have their pictures taken. I can’t believe anyone would be that interested in having me take their photo, but he said to expect it.” I didn’t tell her about any of the conversation with Uncle Nate that indicated what kind of models or who might send them.
“Discretion. If I lived in Chicago, I wouldn’t want anyone local to be taking my picture. Not like the ones we took today. I’d want to go someplace where no one would know me.”
“But you know me.”
“Yeah. Don’t ask me why I’ve been willing to do the kind of modeling I’ve been doing except that I trust you and I feel safe when I’m with you.”
The lights on her front porch flashed.
“Oops. My parents obviously know I’m here and are waiting for me to come inside.”
“I’ll walk you to the door.” I reached for the door handle and Chris laid her hand on mine.
“Wait. There’s one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Did you know there’s a superstition that the first person you kiss after midnight on New Year’s will be around all your life?”
“Um… Wow! I guess I never heard that.”
“It doesn’t mean, like marriage, or anything like that. But it means that person will always be a part of your life.”
“I guess that means you should choose carefully.”
“Yeah. How about it? Do you want to risk having me around for the rest of your life?”
“Christine, even if we were never more than the good friends we’ve become, I’d want that to last forever,” I said.
“Then maybe now, you could kiss me.”
I’d never kissed anyone before. I mean a girl, except on the cheek. I’d thought I would have my first kiss with Anna two weeks ago. I slipped my arm around Christine and turned her toward me. Her eyes were closed and her lips were turned up. They were moist and just slightly parted. I mimicked that and placed my lips against hers.
You could have shot 12,000 volts of electricity through me and it wouldn’t have equaled the charge I got when our lips touched. We just held there with our lips together for a minute. Slightly pressing against each other and not really knowing what to do next. She pulled back and I opened my eyes to look into hers.
“I can’t use that lie again,” she said. “Now I’ve kissed a boy on my first date ever.”
“You mean not just on a first date? This is the first time you’ve ever dated?”
“Yeah. I just wasn’t interested before. But that, Nate…” She placed her fingers on my lips. “That was a forever kiss.”
She slid over and I jumped out of the car to get to the other side and open her door. She took my hand and we… Well, for all I knew, we just floated up to her front door.
“Goodnight, Nate. Happy New Year.” She gave me another quick peck on the lips and went inside.
Everything I’d experienced before in my life, including seeing her topless and all the other girls I’d photographed, was like nothing compared to that minute our lips were together.
The house was dark when I got home and I went straight to bed. I just lay there in the dark for a long time. I didn’t masturbate or anything. I just lay there and tried to keep the sensation of her lips on mine until I fell asleep.
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