My Friend Ellie
I knew there was something on her mind, she'd been quiet too long, so I wasn't surprised when she spoke.
"Charlie?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever think about sex?"
I confess, despite being used to answering her questions, that one floored me for a moment. I looked across at my friend Ellie, looking for some idea of where she was going with this, but all I could see in her face was honest curiosity. I guess I probably flushed a little, but I answered her truthfully, as I always did. "Ellie, I'm a guy. Still a teenager fer Chrissake! I think about sex just about all the time."
She laughed, wrinkling her nose in that endearing habit she has. "I thought that might be the case."
"Why do you ask?"
She shrugged. "I guess I wanted to be sure."
She had me curious now. "Sure about what?"
"That what I read was true. As far as I know, you've never lied to me, so I figured if I asked you, you'd give me an honest answer." She looked across at me with a quick smile.
"Ellie, love, a question like that usually has an agenda of some sort behind it. What gives?"
She sobered, and moved round in front of me so that she could see my face. "We go off to college next month, right?"
"Yes, okay. So?"
"And people, students like us, I mean, often have sexual relationships in college, right?"
I gave her a rueful smile. "So I've heard."
"Charlie, you think about sex, but have you ever had any? I mean, have you ever fucked a girl?" There was a spot of color on each of her cheeks, a little blaze of heat. I stared at her for a long moment and her flush deepened. She looked flustered suddenly. "I'm sorry, Charlie! Forgive me, I should never have asked you that."
I reached out and squeezed her hand. "It's okay, I don't mind." I was intrigued. Ellie and I were almost the same age, only a week between our birthdays. Each of us without siblings, we lived three houses apart, and we'd been around each other since we were in diapers, near enough inseparable. Ellie's mom and mine are best friends and look enough alike to be sisters, but aren't, and Ellie has their coloring, dark-blonde hair and skin that tans easily at the first sun of summer. Me, I tan easily enough, but my hair is a color best described as forgettable, a sort of dirty mouse. Take after my dad, I suppose. I decided I was going to answer Ellie honestly. "Fucked, no. Not yet, although I thought I was getting close a time or two. A few hand-jobs, and two blow-jobs, but no fucking, not yet." I grinned at her. "Why, are you offering?" I said, kidding her.
What she said next floored me. She went a deep red, clearly visible through her tan, and whispered, "Yes."
I stared at her. "Ellie, what are you saying?"
She took a deep breath and when she spoke the words came tumbling out. "Charlie, when I lose my virginity, I want it to be to someone I love, someone I know is honest with me, someone I can talk to, about anything. I might find someone like that in college, but I doubt it, at least not at first. I think the boys will be trying to get into my panties. I might even let them, if I like them enough, but I don't want to lose my cherry casually."
"Ellie, love, I don't know what to say."
She grinned, that quick flash of humor that was so typical of her. "'Yes' will do."
"Hold on a moment. Are you asking me to make love to you, to be the one who takes your virginity?"
She took another deep breath, and her eyes held mine. "Yes, I am."
I gestured helplessly. "Why me?"
"I told you, dummy! I want it to be someone I love, who loves me. We've been so close now, for so many years, that I would really like it to be you who takes my cherry." She smiled. "I thought it would be nice for us to learn together," she said, her voice gentle, "and then when we get lovers in college - we hope! - we'll have some experience and won't make idiots of ourselves."
My prick was giving me the answer, stiffening in my pants. I was truly conscious of what Ellie was offering and I suppressed my first inclination to be flippant. Instead, I took her hand in mine and looked her straight in the eyes. "Ellie, I would consider it an honor."
She grinned again, that lightning flash that lights her whole face. "Well, that's okay, then. As long as it's fun, too. When?"
I looked around. We were in the park, and there were people everywhere. "Well, not now," I said, "It's too busy here."
Ellie nodded. "I thought maybe tomorrow."
So soon! "Why tomorrow?" I said, although I had a good idea.
"Because my Mom and Dad, and your Mom and Dad, are going to the concert in Jackson, that's why. They're leaving at six-thirty and won't be back until midnight. I asked Mom if it would be okay if you kept me company and she was all for it." Ellie grinned again. "She might change her mind if she knew what I was planning."
"Yeah, I guess she would." I grinned at her, then sobered. "I'd better get some rubbers."
Ellie shook her head. "No need. I've been on the pill for three months now. Mom and I talked about it, and she suggested it. She was great, she said it was probable that I might be sexually adventurous - yeah, Charlie, her very words - I might be sexually adventurous in college, and it was safer for me to be on the pill than to rely on some boy remembering a rubber at the critical moment."
"She's a thoughtful lady, your Mom."