LOVE AND SUBTRACTIVE SYNTHESIS
by JVB <jvb5000@yahoo.com>
/~jvb/


     "...and then the filtered signal goes to its ADSR envelope
and then to its output."  Jenn was showing me her analog
synthesizer design, carefully mapped out on a giant sheet of
butcher paper, swiped from the art room.  "And you have to use a
separate mixer to get the final signal but that's okay since I can
use the one you got me for Hanukkah."  She'd been practically
shaking with excitement all day, or at least since 7:45, when we
met to hang out before homeroom.  At 3:00, I discovered her waiting
for me outside my Physics class; apparently, she had faked a
bathroom emergency to get out of Economics early.  Her excitement
grew geometrically since then: her cheeks were brightly flushed and
she only paused for a breath after every third sentence.  "Oh!"
She jerked her hand from mine to point at a precisely drawn line on
her diagram.  "And also, oscillator one can be used as a modulator
for oscillator two."  After pausing for a moment (for the first
time all day!) she turned to look toward me, her eyebrows raised
questioningly.
     I grinned.  "Cool."  Her face blossomed into a radiant smile
and she tackled me to the carpet with a big hug and a wet kiss.

     I carefully watched my steps as we walked through the front
gate.  The morning was chilly; Jenn warmed me by squeezing me
tightly and herself by talking about her synthesizer.  "And I found
some good temperature-stable resistors in a catalog from Germany...
oh, and Daddy says we can use his soldering station so we'll have
two and we can work on it together, and--"  Jenn stopped abruptly
and took a step back.  I looked up at 200 pounds of 19-year-old
senior, commonly known as "Jared."
     "Hey, Linus!"  My name isn't Linus.  "You and Junn-ifer here
totally have my vote for Prom King and Queen."  He continued
without pausing, "Or is it Prom Queen and Queen?" He chuckled at
his un-spontaneous cleverness.  I glared over my glasses at his
blurry head for a second, then looked down at his shoes:
unnecessarily complicated-looking Nike cross-trainers.
     "Thanks Jared," I muttered.  Jenn and I separated and stepped
past him.
     "Hey, wait a second!"
     I sighed and spun around.  "What?"  Jared's fist was coiled
back; it hovered there a minute, then sprung forward into my
stomach.  I fell down.

     Prom Night arrived quickly.  I rang her doorbell at 7:00
sharp and her father greeted me at the door.  "She'll be down in a
bit," he told me.  "Have a seat."
     I sat in the living room, grinning nervously at Jenn's dad.
I had no reason to, I realized--I met him almost a year ago, and
I'd had dinner at Jenn's house several times. I relaxed a bit and
looked at the hardwood flooring.  "So how's school?" he asked.
     "Uhm, okay, I guess.  A.P. tests are coming up..."
     "They are indeed--which are you taking again?"
     "Physics, calculus and English."
     "Aha, excellent.  I'm happy that my daughter found such a
bright fellow as yourself.  You remind me of myself when I was your
age: sharp and hard-working."
     "Thank you, sir."  I cleared my throat.
     "Say, would you like to smoke a doobie with me?"
     "What?"
     "Ah, here's Jennifer."  I turned to see Jenn stepping down
the staircase.  Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was
wearing a grey sweatshirt and plaid pajama bottoms.  Her feet were
bare.
     "Hi."  She smiled.
     "Hi."  A half-hour later we were seated across from each
other in the basement, looking over a cheese pizza, two two-liter
bottles of Coke, and an assortment of electronic parts.
     "You want to work on the VCOs?"
     "Sure."

     We worked without a break all evening and well into the
morning, passing schematics and pizza back and forth, and snorting
at each other's jokes.  By 2:00, we had built the basic components--
oscillators, filters and amplifiers--all that was left was to put
them together.  At 4:00, we gathered our work and crept upstairs to
Jenn's room.  She sat on the edge of her bed, bouncing anxiously
while I ran cables from our synthesizer to the mixing console, and
from that to my viola amplifier.  "Ready?" I asked.
     "You do it," she said, bouncing faster than before.  I
flipped some switches and watched the LEDs glow red. Licking my
lips, I carefully pressed one the controller's plastic keys.  A
banshee-like wail screamed from the amplifier.  Jenn squealed and
leapt from the bed, once again tackling me with a hug and kiss.  We
played Gary Numan songs for about half an hour before finally
collapsing into sleep.

     "...unh hunhn unh unh huhn."  Jenn squirmed frantically on
her flowered bedspread while I carefully lapped at her pink slit.
At the same time, my right hand fumbled with a condom we'd swiped
from her dad's room.  "Oh oh God mmmnf..."  She'd been panting and
shuddering with pleasure all afternoon, since we found ourselves in
an empty house. At 3:00, the sunlight that poured in through the
window, making us sweat, finally coaxed us awake.  After pondering
her parents' weekend work schedules, she whispered that we were
alone.  In no time, we had undressed each other and were busy
kissing and fondling.  Her excitement grew exponentially since
then: a deep flush was spread over her neck, chest and breasts,
fading into her cream-colored complexion just above her pink
nipples.  She was breathing rapidly, occasionally gasping for air.
"Oh!"  Her hips jerked up at my face and her thighs clenched
together. After shaking for a few moments, she relaxed her hold on
me and I climbed onto the bed next to her.  She looked at me and
smiled, and I also looked at myself, in the reflection of her
glasses.  "I love you."  Sliding her hand down my arm, she took the
still-unapplied condom from me and carefully unrolled it over my
erection.  Her legs snaked around my waist and we both sighed as I
pushed myself into her.
     I removed my glasses, gazed at the incredibly beautiful swirl
of fair skin, pink lips and chestnut hair in front of me, and
lightly kissed the corner of her mouth.  "I love you, Jenn."  Her
face blossomed into a radiant smile, and she squeezed me with her
inner muscles and silenced me with a wet kiss.

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