The BSC Legacy - Book 1: Brave New World of High School
By: CNJ
PG-13
7: New Charged
Claudia:
Two interesting things happened
that first and second week in November under one event related to our getting
older. First, that weekend was our monthly sleepover. All of us BSC have
a sleepover the first Friday or Saturday of each month. We take turns of
whose house it will be at. Last month was Kristy's house; this month it's
at Stacey's house. We went to a movie before heading to Stacey's that first
Friday in November. We got the usual food and sat. The movie itself was
good, but not great. Kristy went to get more food and came back with a
candy bar and another coke.
"You'll never guess who
I saw making out in the back row!" she whispered.
"Who?" I asked, curiosity
peaked.
"Cokie Mason with some guy
who looked about twenty." Kristy grinned and the rest of us giggled softly.
"I mean, they are all over each other and everything." We'd seen a lot
of kids making out lately. Once earlier this week, I saw a couple near
the back of the school, making out behind some bushes, trying not to be
seen, but some other kids did see them and snickered. It was kind of a
funny sight. I thought of Josh and me. We sometimes studied together, even
though he's in eighth grade at Stoneybrook Middle and I'm in high school.
We'd often sat close as well. I knew Mary Anne and Logan were also getting
close as well. Maybe I could lend her a rubber if she needed it. I'd picked
some up from the school nurse. I'm so glad today's high schools are waking
up to the fact that, yes, teenagers do have sex, have always had sex, and
will always have sex and do need info and protection. There are still some
adults around who are blind to that and think that we should be kept in
the dark about important issues like this and denied protection equipment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kristy:
"I wonder if Cokie's doing
it yet," I wondered out loud later that night at Stacey's. We'd
played a fast round of the card game Uno and we now lying down on our sleeping
bags in a circle on the floor.
"Who knows?" Abby shrugged.
"I guess it's between her
and her boyfriend," Mary Anne told us. "It's a very private thing. Logan
and I..." she cleared her throat and nervously looked around at us.
"I know how it is," Claudia
reached out and put her hand on hers. "It's a hard decision. It's like
there's no easy way to tell if you're both ready to go all the way or not."
"It's more than just avoiding
pregnancy and VD," Stacey munched on a pretzel, looking thoughtful. "It's
more of how you're going to feel afterward, not just the day after, but
a year from now."
"Good point," Mary Anne
nodded. "I couldn't have sex with someone unless I really had feelings
for them."
"Me either," Abby nodded.
We were all quiet a minute, thinking about the new changes of high school.
Interesting how middle school seems much simpler, yet back then, we thought
it was more complex than elementary school. I guess that's a huge part
of what growing up entails. I looked around at my friends, who are growing
up the same way, yet in different aspects. Our bodies are physically growing;
I've noticed I'm getting a bit taller now. And all of us still have acne.
All of us senior BSC now have our periods. I smiled softly as I remembered
that last summer, Mary Anne was the last of the senior BSC to get her period
and had been embarrassed about it. Our two junior members, Jessi and Mallory,
who are now in seventh grade, were here for the summer and we had all been
talking about periods at our August sleepover. Mary Anne had blurted out
something like she did have hers, then went into the bathroom later that
night and cried. She finally got hers that last week in August and by her
reaction, we knew it was her first and she cried and fessed up. We felt
bad about making her feel awkward and apologized to her. Two more years
and it'll be Mal and Jessi's turns, I thought as our conversation moved
on to other things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Anne:
I don't know if it's because
we're becoming more aware of sex in general with our getting older or if
it's us kids becoming more in tune sexually, but at least three times the
following week, I couples petting in quiet corners of hallways or back
behind the high school near the trash dumpsters. The trash area stinks
of course, so hardly anyone wants to go back there unless they want privacy.
Some kids go back there for a smoke, but some go back there for a quick
make-out session if no one's having a smoke back there. The Beacon
adjourned early that Thursday and so did Visions so after Claudia
and I walked home, Logan came over. Just as he got there, it started to
rain really hard, so we ran into the barn, getting soaked anyway. We took
off our wet jackets and sank down into the hugest pile of hay just inside
the door.
"Thank God for this barn,"
Logan said softly.
"Yeah..." I whispered, listening
to the pleasant patting of rain on the barn roof. It's not really adjacent
to our old farmhouse, but it's used for things like bicycles and storage
for stuff we don't use often. Dawn used to scare me with stories of how
our house was haunted. I still sometimes shiver thinking about it, especially
the secret passage right outside her bedroom...the room she uses when she
visits from California, where she lives with her dad and stepmom. "The
leaves are almost gone from the trees now...did you notice it's like a
huge carpet on the ground of fall colors...isn't it pretty?"
"Yeah..." Logan nodded.
"In Kentucky, we never had these bright colors...they would fall off in
late November and would be duller colors. And it never was cold this early...it
often stayed warm until Thanksgiving, sometimes into December."
"Dawn called last week,"
I told him. "It's similar out there in the Southwest...their leaves change,
but it's more like a burnt orange and brown. She says it's still in the
high sixties, low seventies out there." We continued whispering little
things back and forth, our bodies leaning closer and closer in the hay...then
we slowly stroked each other and I started feeling that swell feeling again.
We kissed several times, then longer kisses came, almost merging our lips
and tongues, our hands in our shirts. Oh, God, he's becoming a man, I realized,
a fresh tingle running through me. And I'm getting closer to being a woman!
I don't know how long we petted like that before laying back again, panting.
"Are ready for...?" Logan
whispered.
"I...don't think so," I
whispered. "Not physically; we don't have protection. You don't have...?"
"No..." Logan shook his
head. "We'd better not take things further until we're sure."
"Yeah..." I agreed. I, for
one, much as I love babies, was not anywhere near ready to have
one or even deal with pregnancy. And I knew how strict Logan's parents
are, especially his dad. Oh, boy, would his dad kill him if he even suspected
we were doing this! His parents don't even let us in his bedroom; they
insist that we stay in the living room. It's interesting, because my dad
used to be on the strict side before he married Sharon, but now he's loosened
up and is treating me more like my age. I smiled wryly as I remembered
up until midway through seventh grade, he used to make me wear my hair
in these braids. We lay there, whispering things back and forth to each
other for a while longer. Sex was still on our minds, but we knew we weren't
ready to go all the way yet, even if we had protection. Logan told me that
he along with his family were going to Kentucky to visit relatives for
Thanksgiving.
"Dawn's coming here for
Thanksgiving," I whispered. "So are Granny and Pop-pop." Granny and Pop-pop
are Sharon's parents. "I hope maybe Grandma Baker can come." I really did.
I love her so much. When my mom died back in my infancy, I lived with her
and my grandfather in Iowa until I was almost two. Then Dad came to bring
me back to Connecticut and there was a fight between them and I suspect
it was painful for Grandma to give me up. They didn't speak again until
I was almost thirteen. Grandpa then died and Grandma wanted to see me again,
so I went out there and I'm so glad we renewed our bond. Grandma is very
sensitive like me. I smiled as I remembered that we both did a lot of crying
during that visit.
"It's getting late..." Logan
whispered, sitting up suddenly.
"Wha...?"
"It's getting late and I
have to get home," Logan told me, rebuttoning his shirt.
"Yeah..." I pulled my blouse
back down. I gave him one last kiss, watched him leave, then lay back down
in the hay, still feeling rather dreamy. My heart was still racing a little,
so I gave it time to calm down before finally hauling myself out of the
hay and going into the house. It was still drizzling, but I didn't mind,
getting wet again. I hung up my jacket, then decided to start dinner for
Sharon and Dad since they wouldn't be home for another half hour. I popped
a vegetarian lasagna in the microwave for Sharon, the put together a rice
and meat mix for Dad and me. As the food warmed, I peered out at the last
of the fall foliage. What a beautiful sight, I thought. The leaves on the
ground looked like a huge shiny, multicolored carpet in the rain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You look like you're feeling
better from last week, honey," Dad told me as we ate a while later.
"Yeah, I am feeling better,"
I knew he was referring to last week's fight I had with Ms. Brauman. I
still felt a twinge of shame and pain seeing that C- on my report card
earlier this week. Almost all A's, one B, then that awful C-. That one
bad grade stood out like a black mark on an otherwise clean record.
"Thanks for starting dinner
for us," Sharon stroked my back. We ate in companionable silence for a
while, then Dad and Sharon talked about their work and things going on
in the world. I half-listened until Dad mentioned a case in Wisconsin that
he'd read about where a teenager was in a court battle over whether her
parents had the "right" to know whether she was sexually active.
"I'd hope that she would
feel free to come to her parents at her own free will," Dad went on. "I
just don't think it's a good idea for a teenager to be forced into telling
her parents everything. That just makes them become sneakier."
"Hey, that's right," I blurted
out.
"I agree," Sharon told us.
They looked over at me a minute, then Sharon asked, "Mary Anne...do you
feel free to talk to us about personal things?"
I thought about that for
a long minute. I think I did. "I do, I guess," I nodded. "You guys are
understanding and supportive." I remembered last year how hard it had been
for Dad to let me go see Grandma and how understanding he was about me
wanting to know more about my natural mother, even thought it was painful
for him. "You were great about me and Grandma seeing each other again."
I knew a lot of parents wouldn't be. Some parents would have flat out refused
to let the kids see their relative. Maybe Logan's dad... "I wonder about
Logan's parents, though."
"Logan..." Sharon's brows
drew together in a puzzled frown as she and Dad got up to make coffee for
themselves.
"Logan came over and we
lay in the barn for a while..." I thought over this afternoon that had
taken us farther than we'd ever been. "We got pretty far physically," I
confessed.
"Did you have actual sex?"
Sharon asked. It was matter-of-fact, not shocked or anything like I know
some parents get at the thought of their kids' budding sexuality.
"No, but we came kind of
close," I told them as they sat. "We didn't have any protection and I think
both of us knew we weren't ready to cope yet with the emotional impact
of actual sex yet, so we're holding off. And Logan's parents, well you
know how they are, especially his dad. He'd kill us both if we did it and
he found out."
"He would," Dad sipped his
coffee. "I think Logan's family is from a very conservative, almost religious
community in the south, so that's where it stems from. And you're right
to think over the consequences, not only preventing pregnancy and all,
but the psychological and how his parents would react." He reached over
and stroked my arm. "You both showed maturity."
"You know, you can come
to us any time you have questions," Sharon said as we munched on cookies.
"And we won't lecture, judge,
accuse, or criticize," Dad added. We all laughed a little. I felt lucky
to have these two as my parents.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claudia:
"I think some parents make
a huge deal over their kids' sexuality and act like it's some awful shameful
thing," Kristy told us at Friday's BSC meeting between calls.
"A lot of it is movies,"
Stacey put in.
"Movies?" Abby asked and
we all looked at her, puzzled. "Movie producers are the most open about
showing couples having sex."
"What I mean is that whenever
it's teens doing it, there's sometimes a scene where the parents catch
them and start screaming bloody murder like the teenagers committed some
awful crime or something."
"Yeah..." I nodded. She
did have a point. "And of course a lot of parents in real life react that
way."
"That's part of why I put
off doing it with Logan," Mary Anne said softly, her cheeks slightly red.
"I know what his parents, especially his dad is like. His dad doesn't care
for me as it is and I just shake to think about his reaction if he ever
found out that we'd even petted, let alone think of having sex."
"Part of it stems from the
fear that we'd ruin our lives by getting pregnant," Stacey added.
"Speaking of pregnancy,"
Abby put in. "You know what pisses me to no end? When some parents have
a double standard. They overreact to a daughter's sex life, yet don't bring
it up with a son. Sure, we girls are the ones who get pregnant, but who
is halfway responsible?"
"A lot of it is sexist attitudes,"
Mary Anne told us. "Some people still feel threatened by female sexuality
which represents freedom for women and independence from men. Some rigid
backwards thinkers can't deal with that."
"Yeah..." I nodded. Just
then, the phone rang and we took a call from the Hsus. Mary Anne was free
Saturday afternoon, so she took the job.
"It's hard to believe some
people are so backwards that they can't think of women being competent,"
Stacey put in.
"We're proving them wrong,"
Abby grinned. "I'll never forget how you saved Timmy Hsu's life last summer,
Mary Anne."
"Thanks," Mary Anne blushed
as she recorded the job in her secretary's notebook. Last June, we'd taken
a first aid course and Mary Anne had been scared nearly out of her mind.
But when she and Dawn were babysitting by the pool and Timmy was drowning,
Mary Anne had plunged in, pulled him out and given him CPR. Without her
heroic action, he would have died.
"They'll be extinct soon,"
Abby said.
"What will?" I asked.
"The dinosaurs who think
of women as inferior." We all laughed at that, then another call came.
Yeah, bit by bit we were moving forward.
