It was my first summer break from college. Many of my classmates had returned home and found ourselves in an impromptu reunion at the local drive-in, there to see "Wonder Woman". We were parked scattered around the lot...my vintage VW camper was towards the back...but we started running into each other on the lot before the show and before you know it, we had a gathering of around a dozen behind the snack bar.
I was the skinny hippie kid in school who nobody talked to except to maybe toss a homosexual reference at (even though I wasn't) but here, everybody was asking how I was doing. How everybody was doing. Eager to hear stories and tell their own. It was as if nearly a year of being in new environments had changed everyone's attitudes and perspectives. They'd all...grown up.
One of these people was Cindy, who had come with Brad and Carrie. Brad and Carrie were the big deal couple in high school. They dated three of their four high school years and ended up in different colleges. They were obviously still very together. They couldn't keep their hands off each other. Cindy and Carrie were best friends. I sort of had a thing for Cindy, a long haired brunette who fit her jeans well, but she was way out of my league. But I couldn't help feeling that she was looking at me tonight, maybe even making signals. I decided I was imagining things. Dusk settled in and I excused myself to get a popcorn and soda before the movie started. I headed back to my camper.
The movie started. Pretty dark feature for a drive-in screen. I was thinking I should've gone to the indoor theatre when I heard footsteps approaching and Cindy leaned into my open window.
"Thanks for getting my hints," she deadpanned.
"What? What are you talking about?" I asked.
"You could've invited me to come with you," she replied.
I was stunned. "You wouldn't have given me the time of day in high school. Why in the world..."
She cut me off. "Yeah, well, I can't sit with the horny toads. Those two are like rabbits. I don't need to see that."
