Copyright 2003 Frank Downey. All rights reserved. Any use other than personal archiving requires the permission of the author. Do not repost.

This story contains adult material. If this is illegal where you reside or if you are underage where you reside, begone.

By Frank Downey

This story was inspired by the song of the same name, by the group Eastmountainsouth.

I was eating supper, when I heard the familiar sound of ball hitting pavement. Then I heard the same sound, but in rapid-fire bursts. That was my summons—well, not really, more like a request. But when I heard that sound, I generally followed it.

Where it led me was to the driveway right next door to mine. I had grabbed a sweatshirt—it was only mid-March, in Massachusetts—and headed out. "Was wondering if you heard," came wafting over from the driveway.

"Of course I heard. But I was still eating," I grinned.

Kelly grinned back, as she tossed me the basketball. I shot, and missed. "I love playing with you," she said, "you make me look so much better."

"You really don’t need the help," I laughed.

Kelly and I had been best friends since her parents moved in next door to mine—which was when we were both two. Both of us were only children, so she was the sister I never had, and vice versa. We had lots of little rituals, and playing basketball was only one of them. It’s a good thing that we were completely immune to being embarrassed with one another, because playing basketball with Kelly would’ve. Kelly, you see, is as tall as I am—that’s 6’3"—and one of the best high school basketball players in the state, even as a junior. I’m a rank amateur. But we grew up shooting hoops, and just never stopped. Even though, between practice and games, she probably has enough basketball in her life. Then again, knowing Kelly, the practice fiend…..

"Tournament pairings came out today. We’re seeded sixth." Peabody High was a moderate power in girls’ basketball, but this was a particularly good team. "We open next Monday against Billerica."

"So, what are the chances?" I asked, letting another dying quail head towards the basket.

"Moderate. Honestly, I think this is the year to get our feet wet." She launched a perfect 15-footer. "We’re starting four juniors and a sophomore. Next year, we’ll be damn near unbeatable. Of course, going for two could be cool, too."

"Of course. Home game, the first one?"

"Yep. So, you and Mindy truly all over?"

"Yeah. She lowered the boom a couple days ago. No big loss, I suppose. You and John, too?"

"I think he just beat me to it." She sighed. "What is it about us, partner? Neither of us can hold a relationship for more than a month. And that’s if we can get a date in the first place."

"I’m convinced it’s just because I haven’t met the right girl, yet. In your case, probably more so. It’d take quite a guy to handle you."

"Now what does that mean?" she snorted.

"It means that you’re aggressive, you don’t take shit, and you can kick most guys’ asses at sports, especially basketball. Plus you’re 6’3". You’re intimidating."

"Don’t intimidate you," she pointed out.

"I’m your best friend," I laughed. "I knew you when we were still both in diapers. And I know you’re not nearly as tough as you like other people to think you are. And I taught you how to play basketball, so it doesn’t bother me that you can now kick my ass in it."

"Good point," she laughed. "Well, if I’m searching for the perfect guy that can handle me, John wasn’t it, so, oh well. Does bring up a problem, though."

"The prom, perhaps? I was thinking of that myself."

"Yup." She swished a three-pointer. I grabbed the ball, and actually hit one. "Would’ve been nice to have a date sewn up," she went on, "considering the thing’s a month away."

"Well, why don’t we just go together?" I offered.

"Hmm," she looked at me. "Can you dance?"

"Reasonably well," I said. "And for you, probably better than that. Think about it. When was the last time you danced with someone who wasn’t shorter than you?"

"Exactly never," she laughed. "You’re right, that’s mighty appealing. OK, partner, you can take me to the prom."

"Great. Just don’t blow that same-height thing." She looked at me. I grinned, looked down at her feet, and said, "No heels!"

She cracked up. "Wouldn’t think of it!"

I stood in the locker room, getting ready for our first state tournament game, against Billerica.

The way Massachusetts does its tournaments, for all sports, is by divisions, and then geographical. Peabody High, my team, was Division One, Eastern Mass, North. So that was the tournament we were in. We’d play until there was a winner, then we’d play the South winner for the Emass championship; that winner would play the Central-West winner for the State Division One championship. A long road, but we should be able to beat Billerica.

At least I’d be better able to concentrate, considering I didn’t have to worry about the damn Prom. Look, I wanted to go, despite not being much of a ‘social scene’ person. All my friends were going, I liked to dance, and, though I normally didn’t dress up, I wanted to for this. I supposed I had started going out with John a month or so ago just so I’d have a date to the prom. Well, that didn’t work out—but Ricky stepped up to the plate, like he always does. It might not be a Big Prom Romance, but I knew I’d have a good time with him—I always do.

Ricky’s been in my life forever. I don’t know what I’d do if he weren’t, frankly. I’m closer to him than I am to anyone. We were like brother and sister, without that whole sibling rivalry bullshit. We trusted one another completely. Hell, when I got my first period, when was 11, I didn’t tell my mother first, I told him. Which really wasn’t fair, he didn’t know what to do! But he rubbed my shoulders and let me whine about it and told me it was normal and then told me to go tell my mother to buy me some ‘supplies’ because he wasn’t gonna do it!

And it worked both ways—the same year, when he was getting picked on by some bullies, it was my shoulder he cried on. I was the one that bandaged his cuts, and I was also the one that went to the assholes and told them to lay off him! And, since it was me, he wasn’t offended that a girl had stuck up for him—I was well on my way to Amazon Woman even back then.

So, I guess it was right that we were going to the prom together. We’d have ended up together, anyway—but this way we didn’t have to worry about silly dates getting upset when we wanted to take a couple dances with each other, which we would. This way we’d only have to worry about dancing with each other.

Anyway, we crushed Billerica. On to the next round, and a date with third-seeded Cambridge Rindge and Latin, at their place.

But first, the traditional celebration—at Land and Sea. Roast Beef and Clams. We always went there after a game. There were always five of us—sometimes there might be more, but the five of us were always there. Ricky was one of the five. Despite being my sidekick, he was also the basketball team’s unofficial official photographer. That was Ricky’s hobby, and he was damn good at it. The other four were myself, Annie, Sharon, and Marina—the Fab Four. We were the heart of the team, all juniors, all starters. We’d all made varsity as freshmen—unusual for one, but four was really unusual. We’d been called the best basketball-playing class ever at Peabody High.

Anyhow, we were chatting, rehashing the game. Then the subject of my recent short lived and now deceased relationship came up. I shrugged it off.

"You’re back shooting for a prom date, though," Marina pointed out.

"Nah," I said, "My partner-in-crime asked me to go with him," I said, pointing at Ricky.

"Nice going, Stu," Marina said. Stu? The other girls called Ricky that. Y’see, we were the Fab Four, so Ricky was Stu Sutcliffe, the Fifth Beatle. Get it?

"Hey, I figured it’d be nice if Kel had a dance partner that was looking at her eyes and not her boobs," Ricky joked.

"Good plan. Of course, I’ve never had that problem," Marina said, to general laughter. Marina was our starting center, and was 6’6".

"Well, you don’t now," Sharon pointed out.

"True. Thank goodness Stick is the only nice guy on the boy’s team!" Stick was Nick Henry, Marina’s boyfriend of six months, and the starting center on the boy’s team, and all of 6’9". "I love him, but I really love him when we dance. It’s so damn new!"

We beat Cambridge easily—but ran into second-seeded Andover High on our next game, and lost. I tried to be philosophical about it. They were starting four seniors, we started zero, and they beat us by three lousy points. Next year, we were going to kick their ass.

Anyhow, thus endeth the basketball season for the year. So all I had to worry about was schoolwork—I’m a good student—and finding a prom dress!

I was looking forward to seeing Kelly in actual girl clothes. It would be a novelty. She was a baggy-sweats kind of person. I knew what color the dress was—burgundy—as I had asked so I could find a good corsage. But I hadn’t seen it.

I went over to her house to get her on prom night. I was at ease, not nervous, none of those pre-date jitters. Hey, this was Kelly, my best friend. I wasn’t nervous at all.

Until she opened the door and I saw the dress.

My God. It was low cut, slinky, clingy. She had makeup on—another novelty—and her red hair, usually in a ponytail, had been curled and hung loosely around her shoulders. But the dress was the real show-stopper. Since when did Kelly have curves—and boobs? She wore loose clothes—except for her basketball uniform, but she wore a sports bra underneath that. This dress was not loose. And she wasn’t wearing no sports bra—if anything, it was a push-up. Not that she needed the help.

"Jesus Christ Almighty," I managed to stammer.

"Good, you like," she grinned. "And look at you all in a tux, you stud."

"The tux is nothing. That dress. Jesus, Kel, I’m going to be fighting off the guys all night!"

"No, you won’t. I’m all yours tonight. For dancing, anyway," she laughed.

"Where are your folks?" I asked.

"They had this thing, Dad’s company. They’re down on the Cape, won’t be home until three or four in the morning. They’ve requested your parents get some extra pics."

"No problem. We’ll need this, though." Good thing I went with the wrist corsage, there wouldn’t have been much material for a pin-on one. That dress had spaghetti straps.

"Pink roses! My favorite!"

"I do believe I knew that," I grinned. We headed back to my house, let the parents snap away with the camera, then got into the limo I had arranged for.

We sat with the rest of the Fab Four, and their dates. The normal crowd. It was fun. We joked, ate the dinner, had a good time.

And I was glad about who I was sitting next to. Hey, it’s the Prom, all the girls dress to the nines, so there was a lot to look at. But Kelly was a league above. With her height, her red hair, and that dress showing off all her attributes—curves and muscles—she just stood out. Well, to me, anyway.

Anyhow, after food, the DJ started up with the music. We were chatting for a while, then decided to go up to dance. We danced to a couple of fast songs, doing reasonably well. We were both decent, though no threat to Fred and Ginger. Then a slow song kicked up. We looked at one another, shrugged, and I took her in my arms.

And everything changed.

Not immediately. When we first started dancing, you could’ve fit another person in between us. But, somehow, we just gradually got closer. And closer. They played two slow songs, and, by the end of the second one, we were practically plastered to one another. My arms were wrapped around her waist, hers up around my back. Her head was on my shoulders. I could smell her perfume and shampoo, we were so close. I could hear her breathing in my ear. We fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It was a thunderbolt straight to my brain.

After the second slow song ended, we pulled away, slowly, and glanced into each others eyes. She was flushed. Her breathing was a little labored. Her eyes held shock. I’m pretty sure all the same things applied to me. Somehow, we made our way back to the table. We quickly got back to ‘normal’, laughing and joking with the group like the best pals we were.

But it was an act. I was truly shaken up. This was Kelly, my best pal, my buddy!

What the hell had just happened?

Oh, God. Oh, God. I don’t know how I made it back to the table. I don’t know how I didn’t collapse right on the dance floor.

When Ricky took me in his arms, and we ended up getting so close to one another, it felt so good. It just felt right. But it wasn’t supposed to feel right! This wasn’t a boyfriend, or a lover, this was my best friend! Since I was two! This was not on the agenda, believe me.

But it was happening. Something was happening. There were so many things rushing through my mind, I couldn’t make sense of them all.

We sat back at the table, and I think we did a fairly respectable job of appearing normal. I don’t know—I certainly wasn’t feeling normal, not by a long shot. I felt shaky and unsure. We sat there for a half hour or so. It was OK, I guess, as long as we were just sitting at the table, chatting with our friends.

If we got back on the dance floor? I didn’t know what was going to happen. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was going to happen.

But he asked. After a while, Ricky asked, "You wanna go dance some more?" I didn’t know whether to scream in delight or crawl under the table. I did neither—I just nonchalantly said, "OK," and followed him to the dance floor. They were playing a fast song—that was fine—but we both knew the timing. There’d be a slow song playing soon. We were right—as soon as the first fast one ended, they went into another slow one. He opened his arms and I melted right in.

As I danced in his arms like I was meant to be there, something occurred to me. We’d never put ourselves in this position. We’d never been in a situation where there was anything romantic or physical about our relationship. He’d rub my shoulders every once in a while, and vice versa, but that was it. This was different. In very innocently agreeing to go to the prom with one another, we put ourselves in that situation for the first time, and the results weren’t what we expected.

And that second time slow dancing was worse. I was, and I can’t believe it, wet. We were dancing close enough together that I can assure you that Ricky wasn’t unaffected, either. I could pass it off as simple lust, but I knew better.

We staggered off the dance floor in a daze, and I think we pulled off the charade again for our friends. What nobody saw, however, is this: under the table, we were, almost unconsciously, holding hands.

After that second dance, I think I was lost. I think she was, too. We got back to the table and our hands never uncoupled.

When we had finished that second dance, and we pulled away from each other—very slowly—all I could think was that, damn, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to kiss Kelly? I just had no idea where this had come from, and it scared the shit out of me.

Dancing again would just be tempting fate. After a while at the table, feeling completely out of it, I decided to tempt fate. They started up another slow song. "Dance?" I asked her. She practically dragged me out to the floor.

They played some well-known ballad by one of those teen pop tarts, and we danced to it, clinging together like we were melting. Then they started another slow song, a new song, a pretty ballad I’d heard a few times. I knew it slightly, in other words. This time, the lyrics burned a hole in my brain.

We were wrapped together in our own cocoon. Her arms clung around my back, her head rested on my shoulders. I could hear her breathing.

Her nipples drilled a hole in my chest. I was hard as a rock. Our legs were intertwined, and I could feel the dampness between her legs.

My hand cupped her waist, one snaking down to her ass. Hers roamed all over my back. She breathed heavy into my ear.

I could feel her warm breath tickle my earlobe. I heard her murmur a soft "Oh, God."

I turned my head a bit, and lightly kissed her neck. She sighed into my ear.

She picked her head off my shoulder. We looked into each other’s eyes and saw the same things there. We were still moving to the music. Our heads tilted forward. Our lips met.

Her lips parted, and my tongue met hers. All we could feel was each other, and the music—the couple hundred other people there just melted away.

She clung to me like skin, as the kiss deepened. And it hit me like lightning that I never wanted to be anywhere else ever again.

The song ended. We broke the kiss. She looked at me, fire in her eyes and said, "Let’s get the hell out of here."

She grabbed one of the foursome, made some excuse, and dragged me to our waiting limo. He told them to head for her house. Then she snuggled into my arms, not saying a word. What I didn’t know is quite what she was up to. I had an idea, of course—but I didn’t know if her idea was the same as mine.

We got to my house. I dismissed the limo. Then I took Ricky’s hand, led him into my house, and then up to my bedroom. We stood there, looking at each other for a minute, then I tackled him onto my bed, kissing him like a hungry woman feasting on a much-delayed meal.

When we finally came up for air, we looked at each other, and, at exactly the same time, blurted out, "This is crazy!" Then we cracked up laughing.

"What the hell is happening to us?" he asked, stroking my hair.

"I don’t know." I was still sprawled on top of him, on my bed. "You know what, though, partner? I say we go with it."

"I agree with that," he grinned. Then he pulled me down and kissed me again. I just couldn’t get enough of it.

"You know what?" I said. "I always thought it’d be like kissing a brother. I’ve never been so wrong about anything in my whole life."

"Ditto, and ditto," he laughed.

"So, if I’ve been surprised about the kissing….." I said with a grin. I crawled off of him, and sat on the edge of the bed, my back to him. "My zipper, please," I said.

"Don’t have to ask twice," he chuckled, and undid my zipper. I stood up, faced him, and dropped the dress, stepping out of it. Next went the bra, followed quickly by the panties. I stood before my best friend, completely bare-assed, and it seemed as natural as breathing.

"My God, Kelly, you’re gorgeous."

"Glad you like," I laughed. "Your turn," I said, sitting beside him on the bed and reaching for the tux jacket.

"Why on earth do you hide yourself?" he asked, as we worked on his clothes.

"Couple of reasons. Habit’s part of it. Some of it is that not all guys appreciate the amazon woman look, and I was teased when I was younger about being so big."

"Yeah, I remember that," he said.

"The other reason is I don’t trust people. You know, I don’t want to be just seen as a body, you know? Sometimes, all people see is the tits." I smiled at him. "You, on the other hand, have seen everything else. I figured it was time you saw the tits." I looked down. "I didn’t plan this, really I didn’t—but I think, subconsciously, I picked that dress for a reason. I bought that after you asked me—I knew you were going to be the one with me when I wore it. Part of my brain did that on purpose, without the rest of me knowing it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You, too, you know. This was a prom date between two buddies, right? The corsage—with my favorite flowers—was unnecessary. The limo was unnecessary. Your subconscious had its own agenda."

"You might be right about that," he agreed. I was tugging his pants down by then.

"Ooooh, nice," I hissed, as his dick sprung into view. I reached down for it. Now that we weren’t working on shedding clothing, his hand started fondling my boob. I leaned over and kissed him. It got deeper, as did the pressure on my boob. "God, that feels nice," I gasped.

"Good, then this will feel nicer," he said, and broke the kiss. The next thing I knew, his mouth was on my nipple.

"Damn, you’re right, that’s unbelievable," I said. "God, Rick, I’m so turned on." I giggled. "And so are you," I said, as I held his hard dick in my hand. He laughed, and swiped a finger up my pussy.

"Yup, you definitely are," he agreed. "I still can’t completely believe this is happening to us."

"I know. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?"

"Yeah." He brought his face up from my chest to look into my eyes. "Are we really going to do this?"

"Yes," I said definitely. "I want it. I want you. We’ve been close forever. I should be your first. And you should be mine. It’s right."

That’s right, we were both virgins. Well, you know, as I said, it’s not like either of us had had much in the way of relationships. And I wanted my first to be special, like any girl. And who’d ever been more special to me than Ricky?

This is just about the last thing I ever thought would happen on my prom night, believe me. Not if I were taking Kelly. But here it was. And, Kelly got it perfectly, it just felt right.

I was on top of her, kissing her, my hand between her legs. "Did you hear that song, the one they played for our last dance?" she asked me.

"Yes."

"Did you hear the words?"

"Every single one of them." I heard them again, in my mind.

"Make love to me," she whispered.

"I’ll be careful, I don’t want to hurt you."

"You never have. You never could," she asserted. "Do it. I’m on the pill, you know that." I nodded, then took my dick in my hand and aimed it at her wet opening. I wedged the head in just past the entrance. Damn, she was tight!

"Ooooooooo!" she wheezed. "Oh GOD." The head was in, and I was up against her barrier. "Do it," she nodded. "Hard. Get it over with." I nodded back, pulled back a little, and pushed forward. I felt her virginity give way. She clenched her eyes, gasped—but then her eyes opened.

"Uh, that’s it?" she asked, wonderingly.

"Didn’t hurt?" I said.

"Just a little pinch."

I looked down. "Some blood, though."

"A lot?"

"I think there was more when you fell and skinned your knees in the Medford game." She laughed at that, and then went "Ooooooo!"

"You OK?" I asked.

"Wonderful. Keep going." I kept going, pushing myself into her slowly. She started panting as I did so—then my pubes bumped into her clitty and she squeaked.

"Wow, all of it!" she gasped. She looked at me, wide eyed. "You’re going to last about three seconds, aren’t you?" she grinned.

"Well, maybe four," I said sheepishly.

"That’s fine, you’ll just have to do it twice," she grinned. "Now fuck me!"

I grinned back, and withdrew almost all the way. Then I slowly slid back in. "Nnnnngggg!" she let out, as I hit bottom again. She was right, though. It only took me about four strokes before I blurted out, "Shit!" and came into her.

"I was right," she giggled.

"Damn. And you barely got started," I said.

"Hey. Who says you’re done? Just hold yourself there," she said—and then I felt her pussy clamp down on my dick.

"Whoa!" I gasped.

"See? He’s still ready," she laughed.

"Yup. Damn, this is so comfortable. I’d always expected my first time to be more difficult."

"You know why, partner. Because we know each other, inside and out. Now, make love to me, properly."

"Yes, ma’am," I grinned, and started moving my re-erect dick in and out of her. She gasped and moaned, then pulled my head down to hers so she could crush her lips into mine. As I kept moving in and out of her, she started groaning and gasping.

"Oh, God, Ricky, so good….," she groaned.

"Kel, you’re amazing," I said, and kissed her again. She groaned into my mouth, then the groans turned to yelps, the she broke the kiss and groaned, "Oh, Rickyyyyyyy!" She went stiff, and I felt her spasm beneath me, her hips flopping off the bed, her pussy clamping down on my dick.

"Oh, Jesus, KELLY!" I yelped, and poured myself into her a second time.

I pulled out of her, and rolled off of her, settling next to her on the bed. We were both pretty out of it. "God, wow! Love you," she murmured.

"Love you, too," I whispered back.

The next thing I knew, I was blinking my eyes. She was all curled up next to me, her face buried on my shoulder, fast asleep. What time was it? I found the clock.

"Kel? Kel, honey, wake up."

"Hmmmmm?"

"We fell asleep. It’s two AM. Your parents will be home soon."

"Damn. You’d better get out of here," she muttered sleepily. "I think I need to explain this before they’re confronted with it," she giggled.

"Yup." And maybe by then we’ll have explained it to ourselves, I thought. "Kel?"

"Hmmmmm?"

"That was amazing. Thank you."

"Thank you," she smiled. "It was amazing for me, too."

"I’ll see you at Annie’s breakfast party tomorrow."

"Yes, you will," she grinned. I got enough of the tux back on to be respectable, and went back over to my house. Somehow, I fell right back asleep.

I woke up the next morning, feeling strange, disoriented—and sticky?

That’s when I remembered. Oh my God, I made love with Ricky last night. And it was wonderful.

It was wonderful, stupendous, amazing—and it just wasn’t ever supposed to happen. I had never felt that way about Ricky—well, not consciously, anyway. And did I really tell him I loved him right afterwards?

God, I was so confused.

It was 8 AM. I had to be at my friend Annie’s to help her set up for her post-prom breakfast party at 9. It started at ten, but those of us in the Fab Four decided to come over at 9 to help set up.

I took a shower, got into some sweats, and ran over. I ran most mornings anyway, and Annie didn’t live far. The funny thing was I took a change of clothes. When I got there, I said hi, then went into her bedroom to change. It wasn’t much, a simple blouse and skirt, but not my usual. My MO would be just to stay in the sweats. I did it almost unconsciously.

My damn subconscious was thinking about Ricky again.

Once I got changed, Marina and Sharon were there. I walked into the kitchen, and they immediately accosted me.

"OK, what the hell happened last night?" Annie asked.

"Yeah!" Marina added. "You left early! And Sharon said you and Rick were kissing?"

"Full blown make out on the dance floor," Sharon agreed.

"Yeah," I said. "Well, something happened. I’m not sure what. It just, I don’t know, took us over. We left early—because we went back to my house. And made love."

"WHAT?" Marina hissed.

"I don’t believe it. You gave up your virginity to Ricky Adams?" Annie said, shocked.

"Yeah," I admitted. "It was his, too."

"Amazing. You mean you two finally figured it out?" Annie said.

"Excuse me?" I said, confused.

"You two finally figured out what we’ve known for years," Sharon added. "That you two are soulmates."

"WHAT?" I said.

"Come on. We’ve been praying for this forever. You two were made for each other," Annie agreed.

"Look, why the hell do you think you both keep getting dumped?" Marina asked. "I’ll tell you why. Here’s an example. Right before John dumped you, and Mindy dumped Rick, we were all together, after a game, at the Land and Sea. And John and Mindy might as well not even have been there. You and Rick were wrapped up in each other. You weren’t being deliberate, or cruel, that’s just the way it is. We’ve all wondered when you were going to figure it out."

"And that’s why you never have a relationship that lasts," Annie added. "You compare every guy to Rick. They all fail. And he does the same thing."

"Wow," I said. "You really think so?"

"We really think so," Sharon smiled.

"I admit, that’s worried me. Not being able to do a relationship, I mean. That scares me to death. This isn’t any guy, this is my best friend. And if it all implodes in a month…."

"Won’t happen," Annie said definitively. "No way. Beside what we just said—Kelly, think about it. You gave him your virginity. In other words, you waited for Rick before you took the BIG step. You think that’s just going to vanish? No way."

"I’m counting on a wedding someday, frankly," Sharon said with a grin.

I gasped. "You’re serious."

"Damn right," Sharon said. "You and Rick are closer than my parents, and they’ve been married thirty years."

"We just were wondering if you’d ever find any chemistry," Annie said.

"I told him last night that I’d always thought it’d be like kissing my brother. Then I told him how wrong I was," I said.

"You’re still unsure about this, though," Annie said, concern on her face.

"You have to admit, it’s weird," I said. "We didn’t get a chance to talk last night, afterwards—we fell asleep, and he had to get out before my parents showed up."

"He’s coming here, though, correct?" Sharon asked.

"Yeah."

"By the way, how was it?" Annie asked impishly.

"Uhm, well, incredible."

"Y’see? You’re all done now," Sharon laughed. "Kelly O’Shea is off the market. Count on it."

"God, I don’t know, guys, I just don’t know. It’s just so damn weird."

"It’s only weird because it happened so suddenly," Annie pointed out. "Trust us. We know."

I woke up the next morning completely disoriented. I felt very strange. Then I remembered why—I had made love to Kelly.

Kelly, of all people!

I didn’t know what to think. I stumbled out of bed, and jumped in the shower. I was still a wee bit sticky.

I went downstairs. Mom was there. "Hi, honey. How was the prom?"

"Great," I told her, telling the honest truth.

"You came home late. Did you hit a party?"

"Well, no, we just went over Kel’s house."

"Ah, just the two of you? Jeez, Rick, it was your prom night, I thought you’d be out having fun!"

"Uh, well, it was pretty fun."

"Just the two of you?’ she laughed. "What did you do, play basketball?"

"Not exactly," I said sheepishly.

Mom picked up on it. "Richard. What happened?"

"Well, you see, Mom, we were dancing, at the prom, right? Slow dancing. And, well, something happened."

"Define ‘something’," she said.

"I’m not sure I can. An explosion. A brain shock. I don’t know what it was. All I know is by ten-thirty we were plastered to one another on the dance floor and she was pulling me out of there into the limo—and then we went to her house."

"And what happened at her house, Rick?"

"Mom. This is hard for a guy to talk about with his Mother. I think you can put two and two together."

She looked at me in complete shock. "You—and Kelly?" I nodded. "You are kidding."

"Nope. And it was the first—for both of us."

She just stared at me. "Kelly O’Shea gave you her virginity. And vice-versa." I nodded. Then my mother’s face broke into a huge grin, she raised her hands, and shouted, "Glory Hallelujah!!"

"Huh?"

"You’re telling me you two idiots finally figured it out! I don’t believe it."

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"Sit," she commanded, pointing to the chair opposite her. I sat. "Rick, my darling, clueless son, I’m talking about the match of the century. I’m talking about the closest thing I’ve ever seen to soulmates. I’m talking about you and Kelly, two people who have been in love with one another since you were six years old—finally waking up and smelling the damn coffee. I never thought I’d see this day, believe me. I thought you two were destined to be alone and unhappy through sheer stupidity and cussedness. That is what I’m talking about."

"Huh?" I was completely dumbfounded.

"You’re having second thoughts," she said.

"I’m having thoughts. Whether they’re second, or first, or thirty-sixth, I couldn’t tell you. My brain’s in a whirlwind."

"Do you regret what happened?" she asked.

"No. Believe me, no. It’s what happens from here that I’m worried about."

"You’re worried about losing her. You’re worried about trying a relationship, and then losing your best friend."

"Yes."

"Richard, listen to your old, wise, mother," she grinned. "Never gonna happen. Not. Get me? You and Kelly are two halves of the same whole, understand me? I’ve known it for years, as has your father, as have Kelly’s parents. Oh, yes, we’ve talked about it. Maureen O’Shea and I have had a number of conversations about our clueless offspring. Rick, I know you. You’ve had opportunities to sleep around. You haven’t. And you’re in bed with Kelly the minute you realized that you wanted to. That tells me something. Should tell you something, too."

"It’s hard for me to get a handle on it. It was like magic," I told her. "It was almost like stepping suddenly into a fairy tale."

"It’s no fairy tale. I told you, I’ve seen it since you guys were all of six. You’re meeting her at Annie’s house, right, for breakfast?"

"Yeah."

"Get going. And remember what I said."

I drove to Annie’s, still confused, but a little bit surer about things. But I needed to see how Kelly felt.

I was helping Annie set up some of the food when Rick walked in. He flashed me a huge smile when he saw me. That certainly helped.

He walked over to me, looking at me. "Hi," he said quietly. "You look nice. I thought you were going to run here?"

"I did," I admitted. "I sort of brought a change of clothes." He grinned at me. I grinned back. "Well, the baggy sweats routine just didn’t seem right, not after you saw what was underneath them last night."

He flashed me a wonderful smile, then the crowd started shuffling in. We got caught up in the socializing. We ate with the gang. After that, we were crowding around the table, just talking, sitting next to one another. Drawn to him by something I still couldn’t quite explain, I found myself gently resting my hand on his knee. He shot me a grin—then covered my hand with his. It was so damn comfortable.

After a while, the gang broke into little groups, scattered around Annie’s house. I looked at Rick, and motioned to him—outside. Annie had a nice large deck out the back of the house. We slipped out there, and sat on a bench, at the other end where we couldn’t easily be seen. I thought we needed to talk.

But before either of us could say a word, we had melted into each other’s arms and started kissing again. It was like a compulsion! Finally, we broke the kiss, and grinned at one another.

"Look," I said, "I told the girls."

"I would be surprised if you hadn’t," he said.

"Good, I was afraid you’d be upset. But, well, I’m glad I told them. They said some interesting things."

"Really?" he said.

"Yeah. I think I heard something about ‘soulmates’ and ‘the perfect couple. I know I heard something about us finally not being idiots. Evidently, they were all waiting for this."

He cracked up laughing. "Well, funny thing about that is I got something very similar from my Mother."

I gasped. "Your mother knows?"

"She dragged it out of me. Anyway, the gist of the conversation was that we’ve been in love since we were six and it’s nice we finally figured it out. Oh, and, evidently, your parents are going to be in full agreement."

"Really?" I laughed. Then I shook my head. "Man, have we really been that blind?"

"We were scared," he said. "I was so scared I never even allowed myself to think about it. I didn’t want to wreck the friendship."

"Yeah," I agreed. "That’s not going to happen, you know."

"No, it’s not," he said. "I keep thinking about that song that was playing. I keep thinking about that line—you belong."

"Yeah," I said, smiling at him. "I do love you, you know."

"And I love you."

All that happened a year and a half ago.

Yes, we’re still together.

There was a minor controversy over colleges. I was thinking business major, and I had good grades, so I had in my mind places like Babson or Brandeis, good business colleges. I was also considering Boston College, which has an excellent business school.

Kelly was going to major in business, too, but she had another agenda. The recruiters were calling before her senior season even started. And she exploded senior season, breaking all kinds of scoring records and leading Peabody to an undefeated season and a state championship.

By the time it came down to where to go, she was being recruited by some of the heavyweights of women’s college hoops—Duke, Tennessee, Connecticut.

If we wanted to go together—which we did, we wouldn’t have mentally survived any kind of separation—there’d have to be compromise. She wasn’t going to go to Brandeis or Babson, they don’t even play Division One ball. I didn’t want to go as far away as Duke or Tennessee, and she agreed with that. BC played major ball, and she’d be a big fish in a slightly smaller pond, but at UConn she’d have a good chance at a national championship.

We visited both places, but it was clear where she wanted to go. And I admit that I liked UConn a lot. So, that’s where we went.

She’s doing very well. She’s getting good minutes as a freshman. She’s not starting, but she’s first off the bench, and she’s playing very well.

There’s a new group of them, that go out after every game. I always go with them. That shook up the other girls at first—I guess ‘basketball boyfriends’ don’t do that. They’re off to the side, kind of like baseball players’ wives. Kelly set them straight. "He’s not just my boyfriend, he’s been my best friend since we were two. We don’t spend any time apart that we can’t help." They accepted that. They even have come to sort of like me, most of them!

But it doesn’t matter to us. We hang out while Kelly dissects the game with her teammates, but then we get lost. Kelly got a single room in the dorm, so I don’t spend much time in mine. We go to hers, and make love.

And, before we make love, we dance.

--THE END—