Chapter 14: Reconnecting

APRIL 2001, JUNIOR YEAR

The drive home gave Adrienne and me over an hour to chat. I was still surprised by her statement of falling in love with me, but I couldn't sort out my own feelings for her. At least, not enough to discuss it just yet.

Instead, I asked her about the crazy past few days. "So..." I waved one hand in an 'all-this' gesture while steering with my other hand. "Is this something you guys do often?"

"What, get a small group together and crash somebody's beach house? Yeah, sometimes." Adrienne smiled at me from the passenger seat. "You should see Mizuho's dad's place in Newport. It's HUGE."

I coughed nervously. "Uh, well, more than just the house parties. Do you guys ... uh..."

Adrienne figured out where I was going. "We're not always this wild and crazy. We don't get stoned and have wild sex every weekend or anything. But on some special occasions, like Spring Break, a few of us will ... experiment ... a little."

I glanced over at her. "I'm not complaining or anything. It's just ... this has been the most outrageous weekend of my life. I'd never even smoked pot before Friday night."

Adrienne giggled. "I figured."

"And that Truth or Dare game? When you told me you usually didn't do anything overt like blowjobs, I started to think that was as crazy as things got." I shook my head in disbelief. "But then this morning? I mean, by definition, that was an orgy, wasn't it?"

Adrienne laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Actually, that was only the second time we all had an orgy. The first time was last summer. We were all a little nervous, but everyone came out of it without any major regrets. The rules helped a lot. And we made sure to keep the weed and alcohol out of it, so people didn't get out of control."

My girlfriend sighed in satisfaction and stretched her limbs out while sinking deeper into her seat. "So for this Spring Break, Candy and I put together this specific group and planned to ... well ... have at least one big sex party."

I arched an eyebrow. "Even Elyse?"

Adrienne immediately frowned and her hazel eyes darkened. "No. Not Elyse. We weren't expecting her to just show up. Something must have gone wrong for her to arrive unannounced and to also put her in that bitchy mood. I mean, I knew she didn't like me very much, but I never thought she'd get that vicious. If she hadn't left, I don't think we would have gone through with the orgy. It's one of the reasons I really wanted you to stay an extra day, so we could still do it. So ... happy birthday, Ben."

I grinned. "I can't imagine a better birthday." Adrienne had actually helped me fuck Mizuho. And then I'd nailed my girlfriend while she was sixty-nining her best friend. I blushed as that thought came to mind. I'd been boinking Adrienne regularly for the past few weeks, but this weekend I'd seen another side of her I wasn't expecting. She'd enthusiastically gone down on Candy and Mizuho and it was clear those weren't the first times.

Adrienne figured out I was working up the nerve to ask her something and she rolled her eyes. "Spit it out, Ben."

"Well," I stammered. "I was wondering ... uh ... are you, uh, bi?"

Adrienne giggled. "Why? Did seeing me with the other girls turn you on?"

"Hell, yeah." My eyes flared as I broke into a wide, knowing grin.

She gave me an odd look. "Have you ever been with a bisexual girl, Ben?"

I blushed and thought of Dawn, Dayna, and Brandi. Slowly, I nodded. "Yeah I have. So really, it's not a big deal if you are. I'm not judgmental. It IS pretty hot."

"Megan and Cassidy?" she asked with a good imitation of my arched eyebrow.

I shook my head. "No, they're not. Others."

"Hmm ... there's a lot more to you than I realized. What I wouldn't give to see your purity test. Anyways, yeah, I'd consider myself bisexual. I mean, Candy and I go crazy together some weekends. Don't get me wrong, Ben. I'm not in love with her and I love men so much more. But I do love the touch of another girl, just for the pleasure of it. Does it bother you? I mean, are you going to ask me to stop with Candy because of our relationship?"

"No, no. Go right ahead, whenever you want," I shook my head. "Just as long as I get to watch sometimes," I smiled.

"Deal."

"Are all of you bisexual?"

"Nah. Candy and Mizuho, yes. Summer and Lynne will both make out with other girls to excite the guys, but just to excite the guys. They're both pretty straight and I've never seen them go past kissing." Adrienne nodded. "Hell, Lynne's pretty buttoned-up, period. If you remember, while she gave blowjobs and got eaten, she only had sex with Trevor. She guards her pussy and doesn't put out easily, not after getting her heart broken by Eric Bradford. And she only did it with Trevor because she's been crushing on him for AGES."

I shook my head. "This is all just so crazy."

"Wellll..." Adrienne purred as she half-crawled out of her seat and moved up to my ear. "Don't be surprised if I bring us a playmate in bed, Tiger. I've got some fantasies that require both a hot chick and a young stud like you who can keep up."

It took just a little longer than usual to make it back home. Adrienne got antsy and decided to fish out my cock and give me a blowjob right there on the freeway, just past the nuclear power plant at San Onofre. I had to move into one of the slower lanes so that I could concentrate on not crashing. I think I was down to fifty-five by the time I painted my girlfriend's tonsils with my cum.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled up outside Adrienne's house and walked her to the front door, carrying her suitcase. Since the place was empty, I went inside with her and she promptly shoved me against the wall and stuck her tongue down my throat.

"Do you have time for a quickie?" she husked.

Groaning, I checked my watch. It was already 3:50pm. "Crap, no."

Adrienne pouted but then she pulled my head to hers for a nuclear kiss. And when she sat back, still tasting her own lips, she sighed. "I meant what I said, Ben. I'm falling for you."

My eyebrows canted to the sides as I suddenly felt nervous. I was still less than a month removed from dating Megan and Cassidy, even though it felt like an eternity had passed. And my heart was really, really confused. I was feeling VERY strongly bonded to Adrienne, and certainly attracted, but I still missed my ex-girlfriends. I had the new "falling in love" excitement with Adrienne, but I didn't trust the feeling yet.

I was torn, and Adrienne could see it. She reached forward and hugged me. "Hey, hey, I didn't say that to put any pressure on you. I just wanted you to know how I honestly felt. I don't think I've ever been in love before, Ben. I don't yet know if I'll ever be in love with you. But ... but just being with you makes me feel so happy and giddy that I can't describe it in any other way."

Adrienne reached forward, held my head, and tenderly rubbed her lips against mine. Then she rubbed her nose against me in an Eskimo kiss. The gorgeous blonde's eyes were closed and she seemed to just be inhaling my scent, reveling in the feeling of closeness and comfort. And then she leaned back and sighed happily.

But soon her sunny expression was darkened by a small frown. "Look, Ben. I know I'm not a very good person. I've done some bad things in my life and I'm not proud of the way we got together. I stole you from your girlfriends. But I don't regret it. However it happened, it brought me you."

She smiled. "You know, you're the first guy I ever let myself begin to trust. Every other boyfriend I've had would have nailed Elyse in a second. Jake, Robbie, whoever. But you resisted her." Adrienne grinned. "You know, that kind of makes me proud that I managed to tempt you into straying."

I knew she meant it in a nice way, but the reminder of me cheating on Megan and Cassidy made me frown and feel pained.

"Oh, there I go again," she flustered. "I'm going to work on those urges, Ben. I want to be better, be less of a bitch. You make me want to be a better person. And I'm going to be a good girlfriend for you."

I managed a smile and hugged her to me, Adrienne cooing happily as she felt me wrap my arms around her. I sighed and then muttered, "I gotta go. I'm going to be late."

"Go, go," Adrienne pushed. "The last thing I need is for you to be grounded. There's a lot more Spring Break left and I DEFINITELY need to see you every day this week!"

She pulled me to her for a quick peck, and then I turned for the door. "I'll call you later today, Adrienne," I promised.

She giggled and then turned, wiggling her perfect ass at me. "See ya later, Tiger."

"You're late." Brooke folded her arms over her chest and glared at me.

"No, I'm not." I pointed at my watch. "It's 3:58!"

"It's 4:01 on the kitchen clock," she grinned evilly.

"Look, I'm on time or close enough. You're not seriously gonna rat me out to Mom are you?"

Brooke just laughed and waved her hand as she turned away. "Nah ... But you owe me."

Seriously, when did my little sister become such a manipulative little bitch? Was it just a matter of turning 14? If so, I was dreading the day the twins turned into evil little teenagers. "Owe you? I'll already do just about anything you ask, Brooke."

My sister turned back to face me. "Not anything," she mused with a heated, lustful look on her face. But the moment passed and her face softened. "I figure if I collect enough favors, we can negotiate." She giggled and I started turning away.

"By the way," Brooke began before I got turned around. "Nice shirt. You look good in it. Sexy." And with that, Brooke headed off.

Shaking my head, I went into the living room to greet the twins. Eden launched herself at me first, slamming into my side as if trying to tackle me. "Ben!"

"Oof!" I exclaimed on impact. "You're getting too big to keep doing tha-!"

I was cut off when Emma hit me from the other side, forcing the breath out of me again. "Where've you been all weekend?" Emma whined.

"I went to La Jolla with some friends. You know that," I reminded my littlest sister, about four minutes younger than Eden.

"You were supposed to be back yesterday. We NEEDED you today," Eden pouted.

"Why?"

"The light in our bedroom burned out. You're supposed to be the one replacing it," Emma answered.

I sighed. "You guys are eleven. Surely you know how to change a light bulb."

"We're not tall enough. And Brooke didn't think it was a good idea for us to try using the ladder," Eden insisted.

"And it's YOUR job, Ben. You're our brother. You're supposed to do these things for us," Emma protested.

I sighed. "Fine, fine. Let me just put my bag away and I'll be right there."

"Good!" The twins both said in unison. And in perfect harmony, they turned their faces into expressions of little angels and said together, "Happy Birthday, Ben!"

They were so adorable. We all already knew they could get me to do anything.

My parents came home just after 5pm and after their usual greetings, Mom set to whipping up my favorite foods for this birthday dinner and told me to set the table. And then as if it was just now occurring to my dad, he asked, "Don't you normally have a bunch of friends over for your birthday?"

I shrugged. "I'm seventeen now. I'm getting too old for kiddie birthday parties."

"Hmm..." He thought about that for a second. While he knew that I'd broken up with Megan, which would explain her absence, I was pretty sure he wasn't aware of all the drama involving Cassidy or the rest of the gang. And I wasn't about to explain that all of my friends were currently shunning me. But then Dad sat up straight and asked, "Did Adrienne come back into town with you?"

I put down the next glass before looking up and shrugging. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, if she's not doing anything tonight, why don't you invite her? At least your girlfriend should still be celebrating such a big day with you."

Brooke happened to be passing by at the time and the almost 15-year-old stopped, then quickly hurried into the dining room. "Oh, yeah! Yeah, Ben! You should invite her!"

I frowned and furrowed my eyebrows. "Why do YOU want her here?"

"Oh, well, uh," Brooke stammered, and then even my dad stood up and gave his third child a strange look. "Well, a few of the girls and I were thinking of joining the cheerleading squad next year. Everyone knows Adrienne's going to be Captain and I want to get on her good side."

I snorted. "You're not going to make Varsity as a Sophomore your first time out."

"No, but she can help make sure I make JV," Brooke insisted firmly. "Especially since I didn't join as a freshman, I could use the help."

I rolled my eyes. I wouldn't mind Adrienne joining dinner. Any extra time around her was "good" time. But I also saw an opportunity. So I shrugged and said, "Sure. I'll call her."

Brooke's face lit up.

Then I got an evil grin of my own as I pointedly looked at my little sister. "You owe me."

Adrienne was delighted to join my family for my birthday dinner. She came over almost immediately and quickly charmed my mom with her polite manners and my dad with her prodigious cleavage. She then went with me into the family room to greet Brooke and also meet Eden and Emma.

The young girls seemed delighted that such a tall and beautiful young woman was taking an interest in them and while I knew the twins loved me, I earned extra points with them for having such a pretty girlfriend. Eden and Emma were giggling and laughing constantly, and after a few minutes Adrienne turned to me and said, "You HAVE to get them into cheerleading when they get to High School. These two are SO adorable!"

"I'm gonna join next year!" Brooke was quick to volunteer.

"Great!" Adrienne enthused and then gave my little sister a wink. "You have any problems, you let me know. I'll take care of everything."

Brooke's eyes went wide. "Really? Wow!"

After another fifteen minutes, we all settled down to dinner. Mom explained that everything was selected from my favorite foods. Adrienne teased me for my über-sophisticated taste given that Mac & Cheese was one of the dishes. Afterwards, my parents brought out the cake, and then it was time for presents.

Per usual, I picked up some video games and new DVDs. Mom got me a sweater (ugh). And then Eden piped up, asking, "Hey Adrienne, didn't you get Ben a birthday present?"

Adrienne blushed. She hadn't even KNOWN it was my birthday until yesterday and hadn't had the time or inclination to get me a gift in the short time since I dropped her off at home. But I cut in, explaining, "Adrienne gave me her present this morning."

"And I'll bet she got him EXACTLY what he wanted," Brooke said with a grin, the leer in her eyes making clear her innuendo.

"Well, not EXACTLY what he wanted," Adrienne drawled with a twinkle in her eyes. "It was a rather unexpected but very welcome surprise! I'm pretty sure Ben was happy."

Now I was blushing.

Adrienne stayed and hung out with my family for another hour. She got along famously with my parents and I was just praying my mom didn't pull out my baby pictures. Brooke and the twins were just as enamored with my girlfriend, Adrienne proving her social skills at adapting to all audiences and ages. My family members were almost fighting each other to chat with her.

But eventually, she announced that she should probably be heading back. It was still a weeknight and claimed she didn't want to make her father worry. My parents nodded and they agreed when I asked, "Can I walk her home?"

"Take your time, Ben," Dad said warmly.

With that, Adrienne slipped her hand into mine and she said goodbye to everyone before letting me lead her out the door.

We hadn't even reached the sidewalk when Adrienne squeezed my hand and sighed, "You have a WONDERFUL family. So much love and warmth."

"Yeah. Makes you want to strangle yourself sometime," I deadpanned.

"Ben!" Adrienne admonished and slapped my shoulder with her free hand. "You're so lucky, you know that?" she scolded, and I got the veiled reference to her own fucked up family life.

I nodded and apologized with my expression. Adrienne quickly put on her smile as we walked hand-in-hand along the sidewalk. "Anyways, now I get why you're so comfortable around girls. Three sisters! Wait, four, right? Don't you also have an older sister?"

"Yeah, Brandi is at Berkeley."

She sighed. "Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like to have a sister ... Or ANY sibling other than that creepy, evil-" Her voice started to get intense and I squeezed her hand to get Adrienne's attention.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"You'll never have to apologize to me for him, Adrienne," I said quietly.

She exhaled and cuddled herself against my arm. We walked on in silence until we got to her house. And to my surprise, all the lights were still off.

I stood with her until she unlocked the front door, pushing it open into the dark and emptiness. I couldn't help but compare the bright cheeriness and warmth of my house, filled with people and love, versus this empty, hollow place where even her dad wasn't home. Her face cast in shadow, Adrienne then turned to look at me.

"Ben, will you come in for a bit? I don't want to be alone right now," said in a pleading voice that seemed to emanate from the darkness.

"Well, my dad did tell me to take my time," I reasoned. "But what if your dad comes home?"

"He won't be home before like ten tonight. He always stays really late at the office on Mondays." Adrienne shrugged and then looked into my eyes, stepping forward and pressing herself against my chest. "Please?"

"Of course," I said with as much reassurance and warmth as I could. And so I let Adrienne take my hand and lead me in a straight line to her bedroom.

Once there, my gorgeous girlfriend turned on only the bedside table lamp and then pushed me into a sitting position on the bed. And then without further ado, she hiked her skirt up to her waist and straddled my lap, wrapping her arms around the back of my head as she leaned in to give me a slow burn kiss.

We sat there for what felt like hours just kissing each other, neither of us in a great hurry. My hands softly stroked her back while Adrienne wrapped her arms fully around my head, crushing me to her face and constantly shifting positions while we made love with just our mouths.

Eventually, we had to break for air and with gentle prodding at my chest, Adrienne pushed me flat on my back. Then she sat up and opened the side zipper to her top, whipping the flimsy garment over her head and leaving her upper torso covered only by a luscious bra that just barely contained her massive mammaries. And then she looked tenderly at me while I yo-yoed my eyes to her tits and then back to her face. "Ben, make love to me tonight."

"Of course," I smiled.

"Not just sex. Not just fucking. Really make love to me? The way we did last night?" Adrienne asked with a trace of hope.

I smiled and reached a hand up, tenderly caressing her cheek. Adrienne had been every guy's sexual fantasy for years, built like the proverbial brick shit house. She was used to guys fucking her, taking her, violating her body. I'd done it myself many times. But somewhere inside that sex goddess, wanton slut, and teen wet dream come to life was a little girl who got raped and never got to experience real love and intimacy.

I'd felt before that Adrienne NEEDED me. I didn't know if I could love her yet, but I knew she needed me. And I wanted to fulfill that need. It just made me feel good about myself, almost as if taking care of Adrienne absolved me of my guilt over cheating on Megan and Cassidy in the first place. Like it was meant for me to end up with Adrienne.

Somehow, we both got naked. And it was almost an accident when my cock slid into her steaming pussy. We'd been rolling around the bed together, making love with our mouths and hands, just kissing and nuzzling and caressing each other's hot skin. And in a completely natural way, our hips moved together and then I found myself inside her, Adrienne pulling away from my lips to lean her head back, arching her neck and gasping so beautifully as she felt my hardness filling her up inside.

"Oh, Ben!" she sighed as her legs wrapped around my hips to pull me even deeper.

"Oh, Adrienne!" I gasped as I clutched her shoulders and buried my face against her neck. We weren't even moving, and yet I couldn't imagine anything better than the simple feeling of being inside of her.

Of course, we didn't stay unmoving forever. Adrienne was breathing shallowly when she began to roll her hips, fucking herself on me just a few inches at a time. I soon joined her rhythm, the pace coming naturally and organically, as if our heartbeats had synchronized.

Together, we drifted off to another plane of consciousness where nothing existed but the two of us making love, our bodies surging and undulating together, as if we were dancing a tango without ever getting to our feet. Our mouths never closed, perpetually open for erotic gasps and moans and hot kisses.

And we needed no spoken words. I heard the soft plea "Make love to me, Ben" in her every whimper. She heard "I'm making love to you, Adrienne" in my every grunt. And together we thrust and humped and grinded in harmony as our mutual orgasms built higher and higher and higher.

And together, we went over the edge, our moans escalating into cries of ecstasy as the pleasure exploded inside both of us at the same time.

When the rest of the world came back to me, I realized that I was on Adrienne's bed, in her room, in her empty house. The dim light from the single bedside table lamp cast a soft yellow glow over Adrienne's gorgeous face, reflecting the beads of sweat that dotted her forehead.

Her eyes glowed with an internal golden luminescence. Her dainty nose peaked above her open mouth as she panted softly and stared deeply into my eyes.

I sighed in utter satisfaction, feeling myself go limp inside her now swamped pussy. And with a little smile I bent down and rubbed my nose against hers tenderly.

She smiled as she saw the look of utter rapture on my face, both happy with her own pleasure and thrilled that she'd given me mine. And then in a soft but clear voice, Adrienne said, "I've fallen in love with you, Ben. I have. I do. I love you."

And still riding the glow of one of the greatest orgasms of my life, I smiled and warmly replied, "I love you, too."

Love is a tricky thing, especially for a just-17-year-old boy. It's an extremely powerful emotion to begin with. But for teenagers, sadness becomes suicidal depression, happiness becomes boundless joy, and frustration becomes violent anger.

And young love becomes Heaven on Earth.

For the rest of the week, I forgot about everything else and everyone else in my life. There only existed one person ... Adrienne.

I didn't spend my Spring Break bonding with my siblings. I didn't have my old crew of friends to play basketball with. And even when Keira smiled and waved to me as I jogged down the street, I just gave her a short nod before hurrying up and going over to Adrienne's house. I was completely infatuated with the gorgeous, busty, blonde 16-year-old who both craved my attention and wanted to fuck my brains out.

Every day, Adrienne met me at her door with a mind-blowing nuclear kiss. Every day, we fucked like rabbits on the first surface we came across. Tuesday, it was the couch. Wednesday, it was the dining table. And on Thursday, we didn't even make it out of the foyer.

Once our initial lust was sated, we lounged around her house just talking and touching each other, often without bothering to put our clothes back on. She fed us just enough to get our energy back. And then we would screw some more.

Sometimes we just fucked each other. Adrienne was a very sexual creature, multi-orgasmic and very near insatiable. She truly proved her "All-Day" nickname that week. I sprayed my load down her throat, over her face, on her tits, and in her hair. I took her in her cunt, in her ass, on top, from behind, and while she rode me. We even fucked while I was standing up and she showed off her flexibility by wrapping her legs around my waist and then arching backwards until her hands were on the floor.

But sometimes we also made love. We cuddled and kissed softly, without tongues. Adrienne usually only had one orgasm those times, but she said that one was often more powerful than three fucking orgasms combined.

And sometimes, we even got dressed and went back to my house to visit with my sisters. I may have had no interest in further bonding, but Adrienne was and the twins were delighted to have an older, cool girl to dispense advice on everything ranging from fashion to music to boys. And Brooke just looked at Adrienne as her idol. I learned a lot more about my girlfriend from watching her interact with my family, and I came away realizing that there was much more to her than blonde cheeriness and good looks. She had a desperate craving for family attention and an inherent sweetness in the way she dealt with my sisters.

In one week, I felt like I got even closer to Adrienne than I had in nearly a year with Megan. After all, I was spending 8 hours a day completely alone with Adrienne, whereas my previous relationship with Megan and Cassidy mostly consisted of Monday afternoons and Friday evenings, just two partial-days out of the week and even then, splitting my attention between two girls. Everything was just accelerated with Adrienne.

Our love for each other grew and grew and burned white hot.

But then you know what they say about white hot love.

On Monday, back at school, I was cruising down the hallway towards my next period. Jae Choi and some of his friends passed by in the other direction. He and I exchanged greetings and went on our way. Lynne Arian and some other girls also went past and we shared little smiles. I also passed Elyse Laughton, who pointedly ignored me.

And then a voice I wasn't expecting called out to me. "Hey, Ben!"

I turned and went rigidly still in shock. My jaw waggled up and down for a second as I stared at the cute redhead before me, and I stammered, "Uh, hi ... uh, hi, Cassidy..." I managed to spit out.

She snorted. "A month with the blonde bimbo and you forget my name or something?"

"No, no. I just ... uh..." I stuttered before looking slightly miffed. I was about to reprimand Cassidy for calling my girlfriend a bimbo, but then I recognized that Cassidy had every reason to hate Adrienne, so I let it slide for now and kept my mouth shut.

Cassidy rolled her eyes. "Boys ... My mom told me not to expect too much. They say boys are three years behind girls on maturity at this age. You're barely seventeen with a 20-year-old's dick and a 14-year-old's brains. Happy birthday, by the way."

"Uh, thanks." I looked around, consciously hunting for Megan or someone else from my crew, as if Cassidy and I would get caught and be in trouble for talking to each other. Then I looked back at my ex-girlfriend. "Uh, I thought you guys weren't talking to me anymore."

She shrugged. Neither Megan nor Cassidy HAD talked to me in over two weeks. Some of the others did. Abigail and Allison Sanders had been polite, if not openly friendly. Daniel and Sung would at least acknowledge my presence and even exchange small greetings when convenient. But none of my old crew would go out of their way to hang out with me, save one. Kenny could care less about the romantic complications. We'd been buddies since fifth grade and he still hung out with me whenever he wasn't with the old crew.

But certainly not Megan or Cassidy. It still hurt to see them pointedly ignoring me, and to now see one of them right up front and talking to me surprised the hell out of me. But it was a pleasant surprise. I got over my initial shock and then stepped forward with a smile on my face. "Hi, Cassidy," I said warmly, my eyes searching hers with some hope. "How've you been?"

She shrugged again. "Okay, I guess. All things considering. I mean, my boyfriend DID break my heart and all," she frowned wistfully and swayed lightly as if a breeze had come up.

My eyebrows furrowed but Cassidy held her hand up to forestall any response from me. "Anyways," she said. "I just wanted to tell you that we decided on a truce. Megan wants to move on, and it takes more effort to actively ignore you than to just let it go. You were her first, Ben; her first everything. So you've gotta understand that she's pretty hurt. But boys will be boys and it's not like we really thought we'd be together forever. So the next time she sees you, Megan's not gonna give you the cold shoulder. Don't expect her to be thrilled and hug you or anything, but she'll at least say 'hi'."

I let out a long breath I hadn't even realized I was holding. In truth, Megan had been my first girlfriend as well, and I felt an overwhelming sense of relief that she might eventually stop hating me, even if she never really forgave me. That brought me up to my second girlfriend, and my gaze darted up to Cassidy's bright green eyes. "What about you?" I asked softly. "I'm so sorry I hurt you, too, Freh-, uh, Cassidy."

She took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly, wrapping her arms around herself. And gradually, a smile crossed her face. "I still like it when you call me 'Freckles'. I miss you, Ben. I never hated you. And now that Megan's lifting the whole 'ban on Ben' thing, I'm hoping we can be friends again."

I broke out into a wide grin. "I'd really like that."

Cassidy smiled and without another word, she stepped forward and gave me a warm hug. And as my arms tightened around her, I felt her shudder and take a deep breath, as if she was inhaling my scent. She sagged against me and rested her forehead on my shoulder, just breathing slowly. And in a quiet voice, she murmured, "I really miss you."

I patted her back. "You, too, Freckles."

When Cassidy released me, at first she only pulled back a few inches, her face right in front of mine, and for a second I thought we were about to kiss. But then she just patted her own lips a couple times and backed further away. Her eyes were moist and a wan smile crossed her face.

Shrugging, she lifted her headphones and popped them over her ears while turning about to walk away. "See ya around, Ben."

Change was gradual. My old friends had almost gotten used to thinking of me as off-limits, so our initial interactions weren't exactly comfortable. It actually took a day or two to move beyond acknowledging each other in the hallways to actually hanging out and chatting. And of course I was still eating lunch with Adrienne and her crew. But progress was being made. After all, we'd been friends since grade school.

One of the Sanders twins would walk with me to our next class. Sung and I would discuss upcoming homework. And Megan at least said "Good morning, Ben," when we ran into each other outside the bathrooms.

And of course there was Kenny, asking me for advice on how to get into Mizuho Nishioka's panties.

By Friday, I knew I was back in the fold. I bumped into Kenny, Sung, Daniel, and Elaine all together and the boys invited me to join them for Saturday's basketball game.

"Great!" I answered, thrilled at the invite. "So I'll see you all tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but, uh, Sung here is usually late," Kenny elbowed our friend in the ribs. "Did you know this guy started dating Stephanie Vo?"

I arched an eyebrow and laughed. "No, didn't know." I slapped Sung on the arm. "Congrats, man. Steph's cool."

Sung grinned. "At least I still show up." He turned to Daniel. "This guy isn't even playing ball tomorrow."

Daniel shrugged and looked at Elaine. "Gotta go find a tux. Prom is just around the corner."

"Oh, right," I nodded. Adrienne had already insisted that we go together to the Junior Prom. But as I looked at Elaine, I was suddenly seized with a measure of guilt. Pinching my eyebrows together, I looked at her and asked softly, "Uh, are Megan and Cassidy going?"

Elaine lifted her chin proudly. "Yeah. They've both got dates."

Feeling just a small spark of jealousy, I hurriedly asked, "Who?"

Elaine smiled, a rather evil smile if you ask me. "Guess you'll find out next Saturday." And then with a little smirk, she tugged on Daniel's arm and led the two of them away.

I had no right to be jealous. Clearly, I'd relinquished my rights over Megan and Cassidy and on top of that, had a new girlfriend of my own.

But I was still curious.

"Hey, Tiger." Adrienne opened the door herself, looking absolutely stunning in a dark red dress that pooled around her curvaceous figure, highlighting everything it needed to. The plunging V-neck not only exposed her abundant cleavage, but dropped low enough to also show the undercurve of her breasts back away from each other. And the satin texture fabric promised to be soft beneath my hands and absolutely brilliant in the lights of the ballroom.

Her light blonde hair was up and delicately twirled. Her makeup was both alluring and deeply sensual. And her hazel eyes had that golden glow that set my heart on fire. She was always GORGEOUS. But the way she looked now defied the English language.

My eyes flew wide open. My jaw dropped. And I literally started drooling. And when Adrienne looked at me with some mild concern and said, "Ben?" I just sort of squeaked.

"You like the dress?" she asked.

"We can't go," I said with a moan of sorrow, my eyes locked onto her chest, where her big tits showed off a lushly abundant amount of flesh.

Self-consciously, Adrienne covered her cleavage with one arm and asked in a panic, "What's wrong?"

Still staring in a state of stupor, I managed to croak. "I can't ... I can't put you in my car." My beater 11-year-old Corolla just would NOT do for such a stunning creature. "Oh, SHIT. I should have just spent the money on a limo. Holy crap, Adrienne ... you're so ... exquisite. No-no-no. Wait here. I'll, uh, I'll call a limo company."

"Ben!" Adrienne giggled and then hit me with her clutch purse. "Relax."

But I was already hyperventilating and starting to babble. And so rolling her eyes, Adrienne simply stepped forward and planted a nuclear kiss on me, shutting me up and forcing me to stop breathing entirely.

When she pulled away, I was in a daze, panting softly. But at least I wasn't in a panic anymore. "Wow..." I groaned as I got my bearings and my breathing calmed down.

"Thanks," I started, relieved to get the panic out of the way. "But seriously, I can't take you in my car."

Adrienne giggled and then pulled me inside. "Fine." And then she turned and dug through a nearby drawer, coming out with the keys to her Mustang. With a grin, she tossed them to me. "You drive. I'll just sit beside you and look pretty."

Oh I loved this girl.

Our school was big enough to have separate Junior and Senior Proms. Most of Adrienne's friends were Seniors and wouldn't be there, so in an odd twist to the usual social pecking order, I was actually close friends with more people than Adrienne was.

But everyone still knew WHO Adrienne Dennis was. And as we walked in, male jaws dropped in a twenty-foot radius around us, most of them almost immediately pinched in anger by their respective dates. One guy even swore, "Holy SHIT!" when he saw Adrienne in her stunning outfit.

On the way over to the photographer to take our souvenir portrait, I saw Sung and Stephanie and waved to them, getting friendly waves back. Adrienne also saw a few other Junior-class cheerleaders and they waved to each other. We even saw Drew Walker with one of the aforementioned Junior-class cheerleaders, and to my surprise, the basketball star looked my way and offered me a standard 'what's-up' head nod. I nodded back automatically, amazed at how much the world can change in only a month. And then I found myself scanning the crowd looking for Megan and Cassidy.

I didn't find them on my initial pass. And then with a little smile, Adrienne tugged on my arm to get my attention back on her. She gave me a look that said, 'Hey, remember me? Your date?'

I smiled and nodded to her and then leaned over to peck her cheek, causing Adrienne to smile happily. And then we saw Lynne Arian with her date and Adrienne hustled us over to Adrienne's closest friend in attendance.

The cute, petite brunette was with a handsome guy I didn't recognize. She saw us and excused herself from her date for a moment, and then Lynne and Adrienne came together to share air kisses and compliment the other on how they looked. "You look beautiful tonight, Lynne!"

"Right," the brunette deadpanned. "I'm practically invisible next to you, Miss Too- Gorgeous-for-Words."

Adrienne giggled but I put in, "You really are beautiful, Lynne."

"Aww, thanks, Ben," she replied, this time more sincerely.

"So who's the date?" Adrienne teased. "I'd have thought you'd talk Candy into letting you take Trevor for a night."

Lynne blushed. "You guys missed out a lot down in La Jolla. Being with Trevor was nice for a few nights, but he really belongs to Candy. And once I got it out of my system I got him out of my system, too."

Adrienne nodded thoughtfully. "That's good. That's good. But you still haven't told me who that hunk over there is."

"Ah, yes," Lynne blushed. "He IS cute, isn't he? Too bad he's my cousin. My mom set us up when I couldn't find a date."

"Sure you could have!" Adrienne frowned. "Or you could have told me and we would have found you a totally hot guy. Someone not-family you could actually hook up with tonight."

Lynne just giggled. "You, girl, have sex on the brain all day, A.D." Then the brunette glanced over to me. "Drink lots of fluids tonight, Ben."

"I will."

"C'mon," Lynne offered and nodded her head back towards her date. "I'll introduce you guys."

Adrienne, Lynne, a few other Junior-class cheerleaders, and all us respective dates hung out in a big crowd together. I'd gotten rather used to hanging out with Adrienne's clique and even though I could be friends again with my old crew, I still felt too weird about bringing Adrienne over to go hang out with them.

On the other hand, I did spot the group and found that Cassidy's date was Derek Rigby, the guy who'd been asking me about her last semester. He looked absolutely thrilled to be standing next to the cute redhead, and for a moment I felt happy for the guy. He'd been crushing on Cassidy for several months now.

But to my further surprise and consternation, Megan was with Juan Cabrera, a prototypical tall, dark, and handsome Latin lover. He was a Senior and also had a bit of a reputation for bedding a variety of girls. And at the moment he was rubbing Megan's naked shoulders and whispering in her ear as she giggled. I felt a flare of green jealousy shooting through me while the muscles in my arms tensed.

As the minutes ticked by, I found myself peeking over to their group with some regularity, constantly monitoring what the suave and sexy hunk was doing to my ex-girlfriend. Adrienne glanced over at me a few times, noting my distraction but saying nothing as she was involved in some animated conversation with her girls. And when Juan moved off and headed for the drink tables, I saw my opportunity.

I touched Adrienne's elbow and said quickly, "Excuse me for a minute." And then I strode quickly over to where Megan was waiting for Juan to return. In the meantime, Elaine had moved in and was initiating a new conversation just as I walked up.

Both girls stiffened as I approached. Megan still had a world of hurt in her eyes as she looked at me, and then she just went quiet and stared at me, waiting for me to make the first move.

"Hi, Megan," I said a little awkwardly.

"Hey," she responded in a monotone. I realized then that we really hadn't spoken to each other, even since my exile-status had been rescinded. Not a real conversation at least.

"How are you doing?" I asked carefully.

She sighed and tilted her head a bit to the side. "I'm okay. I'm okay. Life goes on."

Elaine was clutching Megan's elbow by now and Megan turned to say to her friend, "It's okay. Can you give me a minute with Ben?"

Elaine looked to Megan for confirmation, and then after getting a reassuring nod, she glared at me and walked over to Daniel. I frowned as I realized that I'd been seeing Megan and Elaine together as a pair much more often lately instead of Megan and Cassidy.

"So what's up, Ben?" Megan turned and fixed me with a slightly-forced smile.

I shrugged. "I just felt like I needed to talk to you."

"So talk."

"Please don't be like this, Megan," I said softly.

"Like what? What do you want from me, Ben?" Megan exhaled and looked away. "We can't go back to being friends the way we were. Too much has happened."

"I just ... I just want to do whatever I can so that you don't hate me anymore," I said wearily.

"I don't hate you. I pity you. Cassidy and I would have done anything for you, Ben. Anything. We were in LOVE. And you fucked it up."

I winced and turned away. Just then, I caught sight of Juan by the drinks table, holding up two cups of punch and chatting with one of his friends. Nodding my head over that way, I asked quietly. "Are you and Juan, uh, dating?"

Megan rolled her eyes. "No, of course not. I needed a date and Stephanie set us up. You and I have only been broken up a month, Ben." She frowned. "I'm still ... I'm still trying to get over it. And unlike you, I can't just fall in love with the next pair of tits that goes by."

"I didn't just fall in love with the next pair of tits."

Megan shrugged. "And yet you did." She waved back towards Adrienne. "You got over me and Cassidy pretty quick."

"Megan..."

She held up her hand. "Just save it, Ben. It's okay." The cute brunette sighed and shrugged. "I shouldn't have gotten my expectations up. You're just a guy."

Before I could really respond, Juan showed up with the two punch cups, handing one to his date. Megan immediately took a sip and gave me a look that clearly said our conversation was over.

"Hey, Ben," Juan offered casually.

"Hey, Juan," I nodded and then started backing away, feeling resigned. "You two have a good evening."

"You okay?" Adrienne asked as I returned to the group.

I took a deep breath and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." And then I smiled and squeezed Adrienne's hand a little tighter. "How could I not be fine when I'm with you?"

Her eyes sparkled and she flashed me rows of pearly white teeth. "Good answer."

And then Adrienne looked past me to where Megan was already getting into her conversation with Juan. Touching my shoulder, she said encouragingly, "Don't take it personally. She's just hurt and it'll take time before you can be friends again. A girl just needs her space..."