Except for discovering that their friend and neighbor Ben Twist apparently already knew his older brother was gay, the bus ride to school was pretty unexciting for Eric Anderson. Thoughts of Julie Stovall, their impending date after school today, and the dream he had of them overnight filled his mind.
Now his dream was before him, so to speak, for Julie had surprised Eric by meeting him at the designated parking area for the school buses.
After getting over his initial shock, he agreed to walk with Julie to the high school swimming pool, which was on the other side of the campus. A quick glance at his wristwatch revealed they still had time to talk before the first bell would ring, signalling that students needed to go to their first period class.
Nobody was at the swimming pool at that hour, but Eric knew Julie would not want to actually go inside, let alone swim, because of the chemicals the school used to keep the pool clean. Yet, she probably feels more comfortable around water, surmised Eric.
"So..." began Eric, unsure what to say as they stood outside their destination. It would be a small miracle if his face wasn't turning as red as the shirt he was wearing.
Julie turned to look at him, as Eric got lost in those deep blue eyes of hers. "First off, I just wanted to say I had a marvelous time last night meeting your parents."
"You could have met my brother Nate too, if he hadn't of run off wherever he went," Eric informed her.
"That's okay. There'll be plenty of time for that," said Julie. "Secondly, I wanted to let you know that I've made arrangements with my mom to meet us after school long enough to pick up our book bags. She'll drop yours off at your place before taking mine on home."
"That's good. Wish I had thought of doing something like that," admitted Eric, believing he should have.
"Third. There's something I never got the chance to give you last night before you left," said Julie, a bit shyly.
"What?" asked Eric, not knowing what it could be.
With that, Julie Stovall leaned forward and gave Eric Anderson a long, romantic kiss directly on his lips.
Eric could not help returning the gesture, as he cautiously reached out to put his arms around her in a romantic embrace.
How long the two young lovers stood there, lost in each other, neither could say.
It all felt so right, perfect, like they were meant to be together, at that moment, in that embrace, kissing, forever...
Until the bell rang, indicating they had ten minutes to get to their respective first classes of the day without being considered tardy.
"Dang!" said Eric, as Julie reluctantly parted her lips from his.
"Walk me to class?" she asked demurely.
"Gladly," replied Eric, taking her hand in his.
The couple walked back into the main school building, hand in hand, side by side; until they reached Julie's first period class.
"I'll see you at lunch," Julie said with a smile, before giving Eric a quick peck on the cheek.
"I'm very much looking forward to it," said Eric, before he reluctantly walked away to his first class.
MEANWHILE...
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