I grew up in the country. Way in the country. The county in which I was raised was exclusively farms, big farms that stretched for miles in every direction. Our closest neighbors were just over 3 miles away.
In many ways, this is ideal for children. I was forced to play with my siblings (2 older brothers, 2 younger sisters), and we were forced to be creative in finding ways to fill our time. We played in the fields, in the barns, we even managed to fool around with the tractors from time to time.
I love my family. I have great siblings. Of course we fought, argued, did all the things normal kids do, but overall we played well together, and were each other's social circle. We watched out for each other at school (an ungodly 70 minutes bus drive away), and ended up at many of the same parties.
The Bornbrucks lived down the road from us. They had a daughter my age, a daughter 2 years older, and a son 2 years younger. Their son, Roger, was my best friend apart from my siblings. Whenever possible, Roger and I would be together. Often, the Bornbruck children, and my siblings, all played together. We grew up in similar families, and our parents had similar values and appreciated each other.
Because our parents farmed, summer vacations and the like were pretty much non-existent. We worked the farms (cash cropping), and earned pretty good money. Additionally, we would all help whomever was haying or building a barn, or whatever. Quite a quaint little community.
Roger and I were normal boys. We had a healthy curiosity of the opposite sex, but being so isolated there was a lack of opportunity for us to explore those strange urges we had.
In grade 12 I turned 18 right around the same time that Roger's sister Beth did. We had a joint birthday party (just the families), and we started to get to know each other better, having more in depth conversations. After high school there was no expectation for me to continue my education in the classroom. I had long ago decided to continue my father's farm, and none of my other siblings were at all interested. They all wanted to get into the city. My 2 older brothers were already in college, as was Roger's older sister. In my discussions with Beth I discovered that she, too, wanted to remain "rural," and was looking to embrace farming as a career. We openly discussed doing so together, though the thoughts of becoming romantically involved with one another never came up. In fact, these thoughts never even occurred to me. Not until Beth asked me about the dance, that is.
At the end of senior year, it was a tradition in our area that all the seniors get together at someone's farm for a pig-roast/dance. Musicians would be hired and brought in, someone would donate a pig, and the graduating seniors would party until the morning. Being fairly clueless, I had not considered that the evening would go better if I had a date, I just figured on showing up.
Beth, being so much more organized and intelligent than I am, asked me one day, "So do you think we should go together to the barn dance at the end of the year? It would be fun to go together."
"Oh," I said, surprised by this question, "uh, sure! I hadn't thought about going with someone, I was just gonna show up." But now that she mentioned it, I started noticing that Beth was shaped differently than her older sisters. Beth, rather than being the fairly curvy, not taller woman that her sisters were, was fairly short, but slender, graceful, and very beautiful. She did not have large breasts, but what she had suited her just fine.
"Yeah, I figured," she said, "but this year sounds like most everyone is going as a couple. And people are getting dressed up. Do you have a suit?"
"I do, for church. If I have to wear a suit, what will you wear?" I asked her.
"Oh I'm going into the city to get a new dress. I promise I won't look like a troll." She said, laughing.
"I don't think you could look like a troll if you tried." I said. She blinked at me in response, and I realized what I said. It was exactly at that moment that I had the most major epiphany of my life to that point: Beth was a girl. An attractive girl that I found pretty good to look at. She wasn't just Roger's sister, she wasn't someone to go build a fort with, she was a woman. And a damn fine one.
I blushed deeply. "Uh, I just mean that you aren't ugly, you know, like you're pretty, or, uh," I petered out.
"Ha ha, okay Mr. Smoothtalker. We'll go together, and we'll both look good.
More time passed, and I started noticing that Beth was, indeed, a good looking woman. I started making excuses with Roger that we would spend more time at his place, so I might see Beth from time to time, outside of school where she always seemed to be traveling with a pack of friends.
The night of the barn dance grew steadily closer. I had never actually been out on a date, so I didn't have any idea about protocol or expectations. I confided in my mother, who graciously had no hint of mockery or satyr in her voice. "You should get her a corsage, I know where you should go to do that. You should also get a new suit. Yours is getting small, and you'll need one. Let's plan to go into town on Friday. I'll call ahead."
And so, that was that. I got a new suit, I arranged to pick up a corsage the day of the dance, and I was ready to go. The evening arrived, and I got myself ready. I drove over to the Bornbrucks and rang the bell. I was certainly not ready for the sight that greeted me when the door was opened.
Beth looked magnificent. Her hair was swept up, pinned in the back. She clearly had been to a hairdresser. Her hair accented her long and graceful neck. She had on very light make-up, something she didn't often do. Her dress was absolutely stunning and had clearly been tailored to fit her body precisely. It was black, and elegant. It was not a poofy bridesmaid dress, nor was it scandalously slutty. It had thin shoulder straps. It was low cut enough that even at a quick glance it was clear she could not be wearing a bra -- a fact that was confirmed when she spun around and had a completely bare back. However, because it fit so well there was no gaping and revealing what lie beneath the dress. The dress flowed down and stopped right about at her knees. She had bare legs, and shoes that were lovely AND practical for going to a barn dance.
I was dumbstruck. I looked at her with my mouth open. She giggled nervously and said, "Geeze, Troy, do you want to come inside?"
I was snapped out of my reverie. I looked her in the eye (though I desperately wanted to look at her body) and told her that I had never seen a more beautiful woman. "You look incredible, you are going to be the most beautiful person at this dance by about a mile."
She blushed deeply, and I watched her blush spread down into her cleavage. "Well come inside for a moment!" and she grabbed my arm and pulled me in.
I presented her with the corsage (awkwardly). My mother had actually spoken to Mrs. Bornbruck and had given me excellent advice for the corsage. It was small, elegant, and would match her dress perfectly. It was for her wrist.
Beth's mother made a fuss, and insisted on taking a million pictures. Inside, outside, in the car, it was ridiculous. Finally we were on our way, in my pick up. The drive to the barn dance was going to be about 45 minutes. Beth fiddled with the radio until she finally gave up and put a CD in. She left the volume quite low.
"You seemed awfully surprised when you saw me, why is that?" She asked me suddenly, as though she had wanted to ask for some time.
"Well, I have not seen you dressed like that ever before. And, well, just because." I finished lamely.
"Just because, hey? I guess you don't normally think of me as a date." She said, looking out her window.
"No, that's just the thing. Now don't think I'm an idiot, though I am, and don't think I mean anything negative, though it will probably come out wrong and make you mad..."
