Gridley Girls: A Novel by Meredith First

Author:Meredith First [First, Meredith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SparkPress
Published: 2016-06-21T06:00:00+00:00

IT WAS LIKE A DOUBLE DATE with Bobby and Anne, even though I couldn’t date. We hung out all night, dancing only when we liked the songs, and talking and kissing the rest of the time.

When the dance was over, Ro was waiting for me in the usual spot by the front door of the gym. I didn’t even have to ask her if Dan could take me home. She just said, “Go straight home,” and shot a look at Dan to confirm. He flashed her that gorgeous smile and I was on cloud nine. This was the first time Dan was to take me home at night, without Bobby and Anne. Bobby had his own car that night.

When we went out to his truck, he went around and opened his door for me, not the passenger door. Cue number one that I was supposed to sit by him. It was also the first point at which I had some trepidation. I followed his lead and didn’t scoot too far over in the cab of the pickup. My heart raced a bit at the whole scene building before me as I sat in his always perfectly clean truck.

He started the engine and the new Van Halen album, the soundtrack of my freshman year in high school, roared out of his stereo. I should have taken pause when I noticed that “Feel Your Love Tonight” was what immediately turned on. If only my naive, fourteen-year-old self had known to pay attention to the signs.

He drove the mile to my house, which didn’t give me too much time to prepare. Instead, my mind raced with the possibilities of my parents still being up, my sister coming home at the same time, and exactly what I might do with my hands when we kissed.

Three minutes, one stoplight, and two stop signs later, he put the truck in park and went for it. Even with my brief mental preparations, I was caught off guard. Dan was a very good kisser, that was undeniable, but it wasn’t enough to conquer my self-doubt and this whole business of what to do with my hands. I ran my fingers through his hair and he seemed to like that.

I did stuff I’ve seen in the movies and stuff I’ve seen Anne do. I cringed when I thought about Anne’s hand on Rick’s crotch and thought, well, not everything I’ve seen Anne do. I touched his face and he touched mine. But then, his hand slid down and rested on my shoulder. It just sat there like it was in a holding pattern. I tried not to stare at it out of the corner of my eye like it was a detached being with its own brain, but what was it doing there? Waiting for a gate to open up at the San Francisco airport?

The kissing took on a secondary life of its own as I obsessed about the hand. I was on autopilot watching the hand whenever I was bold enough to open my eyes.

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