Pete and Alex

Pete drove alone most of the time.  Most of his life.  He wasn't used to constant company.  That is what made him most nervous about having a girlfriend.  The constant company.  He didn't think he'd be able to handle having to entertain someone for so long.  Alex made it clear pretty early that he didn't need to entertain her.  She could entertain herself.  Every detail of her day was given equal attention.  Pete eventually learned to tune out and tune back in when it was important.

Alex was younger than Pete.  She was still in high school.  A senior, but still in high school.  Pete never admitted it to her, but this made him incredibly uncomfortable.  High school girls.  There's a certain feel you get from telling someone you date a high school girl.  Feels like you'll find yourself on To Catch a Predator in a few years.  But Alex looked mature for her age and it was easy for Pete to forget that she was four years younger than him.

Alex loved the idea of dating a college student.  So much older and more mature.  She wanted to make her friends jealous that she would soon be having sex with a college graduate.  She could barely control herself when she thought about it.

It was the Tuesday before his graduation.  He was ahead of the game.  Tests and papers were turned in and filed away.  The next few days were reserved for relaxation.  Alex was still in the thick of classes, but had already gotten in to the college of her choice and was not too keen on turning in all of her assignments.  So she invited Pete over after school while her parents were still at work.

Pete picked Alex up and on the way back to her house she went on and on about different friends and acquaintances she had at school who did this or that.  Pete tuned out most of this, but knew when to jump back in to make an appropriate comment.  They hit this rhythm every car ride and Pete always breathed a sigh of relief when the destination was reached.

Pete had been over to Alex's house a number of times, and he could tell by the tone of the invite that he should walk straight up to her room.  Once Alex closed the door, they dispensed with the formalities.  Shirts came off.  Pants fell to the hard wood floor.  Their limbs tangled themselves and moans echoed down the hall.

Judy took the afternoon off.  On her way home she ran by the grocery store.  She recognized Pete's car across the street as she pulled into her driveway.  She walked in the house and called out to Alex.  "Honey, can you help me get these groceries."

Alex moved frantically.  "I'll be right down."  She quickly threw her clothes back on and made it out the door before Judy made it up the stairs.  Pete waited in the bed under the covers.  He remembered being a kid and pretending to be asleep whenever an adult entered the room.  When he heard footsteps approaching the door he played possum and hoped that it was just Alex.

The door swung open and Judy stood in the doorway.

"Peter."

Pete pretended to just wake up.  He tried to make the transition from asleep to embarrassed as natural looking as possible.

"Oh sorry.  I had such a busy day."

"Stand up."

"What?"

"Stand up."

Pete stayed under the covers.

"I should probably go."

"Stand up."

Pete didn't move.

"I don't understand."

"Stand up."

Pete gave up on reason.  He moved out from under the covers and stood up next to the bed, staring at his pants and briefs by the foot of the bed with a new kind of longing.

"Put them on."

Pete tentatively stepped forward.  He grabbed his clothes and stepped back, wanting to keep Judy at more than arms distance at all times.  He put his briefs and pants back on and stood there.

"Should I put my shirt on too?"

The front door swung open and slammed closed.  Judy silently closed the bedroom door and stepped into the bathroom before Alex made it up the stairs.

"Thanks honey.  I am just exhausted."

Alex didn't understand why Pete had put his pants back on.  He explained that he needed to get home and finish some paperwork before graduation.  Alex was looking forward to laughing with Pete about how close a call it had been.  How lucky they were that Judy didn't walk in on them.  When she didn't get to express this to Pete, she couldn't help but feel that something was being kept from her.

Pete broke up with Alex the day after his graduation and two weeks before her last day of high school.