Author's Note:
This version of
Tracey
has been modified since first publication on 11/03/2004 for continuity purposes and to correct minor grammatical errors. -W.S.
When I was a senior in high school, my parents decided to rent out a room in our house. Dad taught at a local college and professors often took in upper grad students who were looking for a quiet, off-campus living situation. On a college professor's salary, a little extra money was always appreciated.
The room in question was my brother Dan's old room in the basement, next to mine. We had a ranch style house built into the side of a hill, and the basement had windows facing the back yard. Dan and I had pretty much held reign over the floor, and our parents seldom came down there.
When my parents told me of their plans to rent Dan's room, I was a little upset at first. I had planned on transferring some of my stuff to the spacious room to set up a little hang-out area all my own. No such luck.
One day when I got home from school my mother called me into the livingroom.
"Steve, honey, would you come in here for a moment?"
Mom was sitting on the couch, and across from her sat a pretty young woman.
"Steve, this is Tracey. She'll be moving into Dan's old room this weekend."
"Hi, Tracey," I said, shaking her hand.
"Hey! I hope you don't mind me moving into your territory..." she smiled. Any reservations I had about it melted right then.
"No, that's ok," I said.
"Will you make sure it's cleaned out before this weekend, sweetheart?" Mom said.
"Yeah," I said. "Nice meeting you, Tracey."
"Nice meeting you Steve. See you this weekend!"
***
I should explain the layout of our basement. The two bedrooms occupied by Dan and I had formerly been one large room next to a little den area where we had a TV and a couch. A wall had been erected to create two rooms. The original door to the room now opened into a small, V-shaped entryway with doors leading to each of our rooms. The doorways were too narrow to hang real doors, so curtains had been hung for privacy.
Tracey moved in that weekend, but I didn't see much of her for the first couple weeks. She put in long hours at the library after class, and worked at a bookstore in town 3 nights a week. She was often not home till 10:00.
One Saturday night I was in my room surfing the web and listening to music when I heard her come in.
"Hey Steve," I heard a voice say. I turned around and Tracey was standing in the entrance to my room. "Oh, I love this album!" she smiled, taking a step into my room.
"Yeah, it's pretty good. I love old Stones." I said. This was a good sign--at least maybe we wouldn't mind each other's taste in music.
"Hang on, I'm just going to take a shower and change, then I'll come in to chat...if that's ok?"
"Yeah, of course!" I said, perhaps a little too enthusiastically.
Twenty minutes later she returned, wearing a tee-shirt and boxers. She came in and sat on my bed.
"So, your Mom said you're a senior this year. Are you excited to finish high school?" she said.
I turned around from my computer and looked down at her sitting on my bed. For the first time I was struck by how beautiful she was: tall and thin with long toned legs and medium-sized breasts which I could just make out through her loose-fitting tee-shirt. Her long, dirty-blonde hair was still wet from her shower, and when it fell into her blue eyes she tilted her head and swiped it delicately aside with her fingers, tucking it behind her ear.
"Yeah, I'm starting to look forward to college," I said.
"I remember that feeling," she said. "Now that I'm a senior in college, I can't wait to get out into the real world."
"Yeah," I said absentmindedly, reflecting that she was 4 years older than me. When you're 18, 4 years feels significant. I suddenly felt a little intimidated in the presence of a 22 year-old woman.
"So, do anything exciting today?" she asked, changing the subject.
"I had cross-country running practice this morning at 7:00," I said.
"Wow! You must be beat!" she said.
"Not really. I'm actually kind of wired for some reason. Surfing the web usually helps me relax though, hopefully I'll be sleepy soon."
"So, you're a runner too, huh? I ran cross-country in high school. I still run a lot, but I don't get a chance to race much. I miss it. I get out at least 3 times a week though--we could go together sometime! I'm supposed to do a 5K with my boyfriend next weekend, but he always runs ahead of me--he's really fast."
I felt a twinge of regret at the mention of her boyfriend.
"Really?" I said. "That's no fun."
"I know!" she said laughing, acting indignant.
"Is it the reservoir run?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"I ran that last year."
"Really? How'd you do?"
"Umm, pretty good..." I said, not wanting to boast.