Author's note: This is all lies. Enjoy!
A few weeks after I graduated from college, shortly before I started life in the real world, I went to live with my grandmother for the summer. It's not like she was on death's door with a terminal illness or inoperable cancer, or that she was feeble or exceptionally lonely; it was a sort of family tradition to spend summers, alone, at my grandmother's. I was the last to do it. My sister had done it five years ago and my older brother stayed with her two years ago.
Don't get me wrong, I love my "Grandma M," but I had planned on a full summer of partying, screwing around, goofing off, and maybe a little time to work. I figured it was the last time in my life where I could truly be free from any serious responsibilities. I knew that it would be much more difficult to find trouble in the small, northeastern Montana town where Grandma M had lived for the past sixty years. I wasn't exactly looking forward to a summer of nothing. I had grown up in a relatively modest suburb of Minneapolis, and was used to the city life-being able to go anywhere and do anything at anytime. In the city it was a matter of deciding what you wanted to do, not what you could do. But Mud Gap, Montana, on the other hand, barely had a thousand people living in it, but it seemed like half that. Oh well. I'd have to make my own fun.
***
The first few weeks in Mud Gap were fairly uneventful. Grandma M and I tried to get comfortable with sharing each other's space and each other's habits. I had to adjust to her early hours, her dozens of delicate knickknacks perched, seemingly, on every available space. I was sure that by the end summer I'd have broken half of them by knocking into tables, swinging elbows around. And she had to adjust to my late hours-waking at eleven most days, not getting to bed until after two, usually. But we both handled it well. It helped that my bedroom was in the basement, on the opposite end of the house where she was, and that she took her hearing aid out before going to bed.
Lately, to kill time I had taken to hanging out in the evenings at the local park, by a small stream that swung through the south edge of town. There were some picnic shelters there, fire pits, a small playground. It seemed to be the spot for local kids to congregate at night. That is, if they weren't at some kegger or bonfire getting trashed. They'd start arriving in twos and threes a little before dark, driving up their farm trucks, parents' Buicks, their hard-earned beaters. Some wouldn't get out of their vehicles, they'd just talk to whoever walked or drove up their windows. Others would pile out of their cars and come to the picnic shelters, bouncing and giggling, and casting a worrisome gaze while they lit cigarettes. I sat at a table at the far end of the park, in the open and wrote in my journal or read until dark. Mostly I observed.
There was one group of girls I happened to notice more than others. The three of them arrived nearly every night at the same time. One of them was definitely older than the other two-probably my age-she usually just parked the car and got in someone else's car and rode away. She had short, straight brown hair that she parted on the side and held with barrettes. She had a good body, not too thin, not too chubby. Her breasts were on the small side of a C, just pushing against her clothes. The way she swung her hips when she walked away told me she was an experienced girl, that she had something specific in mind when she got in other people's cars. I thought she was probably a dirty girl under that plain exterior. That she knew she weren't going to go and make love or have sex, but that she was going to fuck and get fucked.
Another of the three girls looked almost exactly like this secret, dirty girl, but younger by a few years-I guessed a sister. She was shorter and a bit rounder, her breasts swelling beneath her pale blue tank top, and her ass luscious and full in her short shorts. Her long, brown hair was wild and curly, falling in front her eyes, forcing her to always flick it away or tuck it behind her ear. She had something of a secret look about her, too, in the way she would lean and laugh when she spoke to someone. She'd put one hand on the person's arm and bite her bottom lip, as if she were keeping something in. I liked her from the first moment I saw her-I've always been attracted to girls who have an unselfconscious demeanor when it came to their bodies, like they know what they can do and don't care.
The third girl was obviously a friend of the younger girl-best friend, I'd guessed. She was tall for her age, gangly. All of her parts hadn't caught up with her yet. Her legs were long, painfully so, ivory white and thrusting out of a pair of tiny denim shorts. But they looked strong and sinewy, like a runner's. She had a tiny waist and a flat chest, and I could tell that she seemed a little embarrassed by her tiny breasts, especially when compared to her friend's. She kept crossing her arms over her chest or kept leaning forward so that her shirt hung and hid what wasn't there. She had a petite nose, slightly turned up at the end, and icy blue eyes that darted side to side. Long, straight blond hair hung well past her shoulders, framing her face.
On that particular evening, after the older sister came and left, I noticed the remaining two stealing more glances at me than usual. They were edging closer, from across the park, talking as if they hadn't made up their minds yet. I stood and walked over to them.
"I'm Shawn." I tucked my journal under my arm and held out my hand to the shorter one.
They looked at each other and giggled. She then tossed her head back and said to me in a mock-formal voice, "I, am Ellen. Those who know me call me Elly."
She presented her hand to me and I bent forward and kissed it. "Pleased to meet you." The scent of jasmine and something sweet flooded my nostrils.
"You may now call me Elly."
The tall girl, her pale cheeks flushed red, simply extended her hand. "I'm Brianna. Nice to meet you."
I took her tiny hand in mine, but before I could even give a full handshake she took it back and lowered her eyes.
"Nice to meet both of you." I smiled widely. Elly had her hands on her hips and her tilted, as if she were examining me or seeing me for the first time. When she stood like that her breasts strained against the light fabric of her top. Her black bra, the straps sliding out from under the tank top's, seemed to be getting a workout.
"So, who are you? No one knows."
"Elly . . ." Brianna rolled her eyes and shook her head, as if to say, "She always does things like this."
"I'm just here for the summer, staying with my grandmother. Sort of a family tradition after we graduate from college." They both nodded, staring at me blankly.
"College? Where'd you go?" Elly said it like it was a challenge.
"U. of Minnesota. How 'bout you guys?" I knew they probably weren't old enough, so I flattered them.
They both giggled again. Brianna said, "We both just graduated high school. In fact, Elly just turned eighteen last week, but I'm almost six months older. Right? Did you really think we were already in college?"
