Of all the people I’ve know before, believe me there’ve been a few. One stands out beyond the others. That special one is you. All the rest are just faces without names. People without purpose, caught up in their own games. I often wondered where they come from and even where they’ll be going to. They have no roots, they have no boundaries. Maybe they’ll find someone like you. So if I live to be a hundred, I will spend my whole life through, never taking you for granted, I’ll be forever loving you…

The area civic arena was alive with activity. The boy’s county basketball tournament was getting under way. Next to the prom, this was the social event of the year. If you were a fan of the sport or not, it was a must to attend . Every teenager in a 50-mile radius would be there. Young men checking out the girls, looking for new faces, new opportunity to meet the perfect date. Young girls searching for the perfect soul mate.

The front door opened, two girls can through. Anne, very excited to be there, coaxing a very reluctant Sara to come in. Dragging her by the arm ,Anne pleaded with her to come in,” Will you get in here”.

“Why are we here, I don’t even like basketball” Sara whined.

“ Trust me ,we going to have fun. What else do you have to do? Sit in your room and stare at the walls some more. Been there, done that. You need to break the boredom ”. Anne looks around, smiling. “Just look around at all the hot guys”. Sara had recently broken up with her boyfriend of 4 years, Anne was going to get her back into circulation, even if it killed her.

“I’m giving this venture 15 minutes, then I out of here” Sara informed Anne as she let herself admire a few of the passing teenagers. Don’t think this was just a chance event, Anne had a plan up her sleeve. With the help of a few of her friends, Anne had one specific guy in mind to introduce Sara to. After a minutes the girls began laughing and talking with friends. Grading the young men and women as they went by. It was the time of fashion jeans and feathered hair. Every pocket, no matter male or female, had a comb in it. Anne glanced over to her friend Julie, the targets were now in range of each other. Anne waved, which set forth a magical turn of events.

Anne grabbed on to Sara’s arm, “Please behave yourself”.

“What”? Sara replied as she was drug over towards a group of people and can face to face with the most brutally handsome guy she had ever seen in her life. Her glance immediately went to his piercing blue eyes then to his butter melting smile. She had noticed this group of people standing down the concord from them but could only see the back of this stunning young man, which was pretty amazing too. She was actually been looking at one of the other guys in the group.

Greeting began, Julie introduced her friend ,” Hi everyone, this is Tim. This is Anne and Sara”. Sara , being totally speechless, just smiled brightly. Tim was a senior . Former jock type. Considered to be the catch of the county by many. Julie looked at the two friends, looking for a sign of sparks between them. “I need to show you something” Julie grabbed Anne’s arm leading her a few feet away from Tim and Sara, but standing only a few feet away, watching for the two to break the ice.

Sara was searching her vocabulary for something witty to say and of course she ended up saying something totally stupid. “ I saw you talking with that guy over there, is he a friend of yours? Maybe you could introduce us”? Sara knew immediately she had completely shoved her entire foot all the way in her mouth and down her throat. Are you completely stupid or what, she was thinking to herself. She had just blown any chance of getting to know this guy, he must think I’m a total loser. She turned away from him, staring out over the masses of people. She wanted to crawl under one of the chairs and hide.

Tim glanced over towards the guy in question, ”Yeah, I know him but trust me, you don’t want anything to do with him. He’s a real jerk”. Looking back at Sara, smiling . “Are you from around here? I don’t remembered seeing you around”.

Amazed that he had let the ill-mannered remark slide, she turned back to face him “I live in Jamestown, and you”!

“Medina“ .Tim replied.

Anne and Julie saw a few danger signs, things were not progressing as well as they had hoped and decided to rejoin them, hopefully to save the awkward situation. Right about then, the game went into it’s half- time festivities and the arena was wild with activity. It became virtually impossible to carry on any kind of conversation.

“Let’s go outside and get some air”. Anne yelled over the noise. Waving for everyone to follow her. The group made it’s way out the door , along with several hundred other people. The air was crisp compared to the inside of the arena. Sara didn’t seem to notice. As everyone stood in a huddle, Tim wondered over to talk with a few of his friend.

Sara leaned in towards Anne,” You had this all planned , didn’t you”?

“Who me, I would never be that devious to my best friend”! Anne smiled very deviously.

“In case I forget, I’ll get you for this”, Sara smiled, ”Thank-you”! putting her arm around Anne’s neck looking over towards Tim, almost feeling weak in the knees.

Tim headed back towards the girls. “ There is sometime before the game gets under way again, anybody want to go for a drive? Who has a car”?

“Sara has a car”. Anne piped in, noticing Sara wasn’t speaking up.

“Yeah, I have a car”. Sara gave Anne a wide-eyed glare. Anne stuck her tongue out at her.

“Well, let’s go”. Tim pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting up.

“You two go ahead, we are suppose to meet some people back inside”, Julie started walking back to the arena, motioning for Anne to follow her, ”We’ll catch you guys when you come back”.

Sara glanced over the parking lot, pin pointing the area where her car was parked. “Don’t you have a car here”?

“I rode in with a few other guys, they are using the car for other things right now”. Tim pointed towards a remote area of the parking lot.

Sara led Tim towards her car. She drove a dark green mercury cougar. A sporty car for a girl to be driving . She unlocked the door and slide in. “Where to”? she questioned.

“Head over to the back corner of the lot, I need to pick something up from my friend’s car”. Tim pointed towards the area his friend’s car was parked. Upon finding the car, Tim went to the trunk, moving a number of items, opening a cooler and grabbing a six pack of beer. Coming around to her window “ Can you pop the trunk”? he asked, looking around to make sure no cops were within view.

“Now where”? Sara sat in ready position, hands on the steering wheel. “Wait I have the perfect spot”. She set the car in motion.

Her spot was a great idea but it was the same idea that a great number of other people had. On the outskirts of town there was a lake. In the center of the lake an island . It was a great place for young people to go to be alone, considered to be the best make-out place in town. From the highest point of the island there was a great view of the lights of the city. The two sat in silence, nursing a cold beer, searching for some profound words to break the ice. The radio played softly . A number of cars drove through the area ,occasionally honking a greeting at assorted cars. While staring out the front window, the ice-breaker happened. Thanks to a power surge, the entire city went black .

“Holy shit, do you see that”? Tim wriggled about excitedly.

“Actually, I don’t see a thing.” Dawn replied. They looked at each other and began to laugh. “I don’t think I have ever seen such a dense darkness before”. Sara said, still trying to focus for some sort of light. The only glow of light ,coming from the dials of the radio.

“This is nothing.” Tim too, trying to focus from the light I the car. ”I live in the country, now that’s a darkness like you have never seen before”.

“You live on a farm”? “What kinds of animals do you have”? Sara turned down the radio so she could hear every word he said.

“We have cows, sheep and horses” ,”as a matter of fact, I have a horse named Sara”. Tim exclaimed.

Not sure if he was pulling her leg or not she let out a surprising “REALLY”! “I would love to see her sometime”. She laid out a challenge to prove he was telling the truth. Glancing down at his hands. Large .They looked as though he has done a lot of physical labor.

“How about tomorrow”? Tim offered. “ I can pick you up at your place , I’ll drive this time”?

“Okay”! Sara was jumping with excitement at the thought that he wanted to see her again. Her excitement quickly faded with a glance at the clock on the dash. “Oh shit, look at the time”. “My folks are going to kill me, I was suppose to be home over an hour ago”. She started the car and headed back into town. Time a slipped away. Not only had Sara missed her curfew but upon returning to the civic arena they had completely missed the rest of the basketball game. The parking lot was empty except for one lone car, Tim’s friend’s car. Pulling up long side the car she took a piece of paper out of the glove box and began writing her address and phone number. “Give me a ring tomorrow”. She handed him the paper. “I hate to just leave you here but I really have to get home”.

“It’s okay, I’ll just crash in the car till they come back for it”, ”talk to you tomorrow”? Tim smiled, giving her a wink.

“ Okay, bye”. Sara pulled away slowly, glancing in the rear-view mirror repeatedly till she was out of view of the car.

She didn’t even remember the drive home. She turned off the car, coasting up to the front of the house. The house was dark. Hopefully no one would be up to acknowledge her tardiness. She opened the front door ever so silently. Taking off her shoes, creeping across the floor, making sure to miss the memorized creaky spots. She was almost to her room when a voice whispered from the darkness.

“I’m sure you have a good reason for being late, you can tell me all about it this weekend while you are grounded”. A sleep voice went silent.

Sara sighed, leaning against the wall in the hallway. “shit” was the only thought that kept circling in her mind. She entered her room, closing the door. Falling onto the bed, tired and yet so excited she felt as though she might crawl out of her skin. She couldn’t get those blue eyes from her thoughts. Getting into her pjs, she wondered if he slept in pjs , shorts, undies or in the buff. She blushed at the thought . Crawling between the sheets, she realized she felt a sense of hope. There could be a chance she might be happy seeing someone new. A smile graced her face as she drifted off to sleep. Thoughts racing, what was he really like, would he ever kiss her, touch her. Does he really have a horse named Sara!

A mental alarm clock went off in Sara’s head. Her eyes wide open. Her thoughts ran rampant. What was she going to wear? Was he even going to call, perhaps he had already thrown her number away? The minutes crawled by like hours. She paced the house, checking out the windows, occasionally picking up the phone, listening to the dial tone just to be sure it was still working. Even if he did show up, she was grounded. How was she going to work this out. She was about to find out. A maroon car pulled up out front. Tim got out , checking his hair in the rear view mirror, running his fingers through the sides and patting down the top. He flicked his cigarette out into the street. The moment of truth was upon her. Her heart was beating so hard it felt as though it may jump from her chest. Making a be-line for the door before he had a chance to ring the bell.

She was greeted with a bright smile and a “Hey cutie, ready to go”?

“Have a slight problem. My folks weren’t very happy with me being late and I’m grounded for the rest of the weekend”. Sara looked down at her shoes, kicking at a rock. She felt like a 12 year old child, being grounded. He had to be writing me off as they stood there.

“Are your folks home”? Tim had something up his sleeve.

“Just my mom, why”? she uneasily questioned. Boyfriends , boys in general , and her parents didn’t mesh very well.

“Leave it up to me”. Tim confidently began walking to the door.

Sara opened the door, inviting Tim inside. Her mom was sitting at the table ,facing the television on the counter. Sara could feel herself shaking ,not sure if this was such a good idea,” Mom, this is Tim, Tim this is my mom”.

“Hello, nice to meet you”. Tim beamed with his very well rehearsed “meeting the parents” smile and manners. “I understand Sara was a little late getting home last night and I just wanted to tell you it wasn’t her fault. My car broke down and she helped me get to a phone to get some help then stayed with me till my friends came. Don’t be too hard on her, I take full responsibility”. Extending his hand to shake hers.

Sara stood in amazement. In a matter of second she could she her mother’s stern , unyielding composure melt away. It was obvious her mother was as taken with Tim’s demeanor as she was. “Tim came by to take me for a drive, I know I’m grounded but could you make an exception just this one time”? her eyes met her mom’s, with almost a hint of begging in them.

“Well, alright, just this once> But you will be home by 10 o’clock or you will be grounded for a month”. Her mom said , almost in a joking manner but Sara knew she meant it . Tim looked at her, giving her a wink. Her mom called from the back of the house, “Sara come here for just a second, will you”.

Sara headed down the hall with a back glance ,”I’ll be right back”.

“This is playing dirty and his story sounds like a load of bull but I’ll let you off this time. I mean it when I say you’ll be grounded for a month if you’re late so you had better be on time if not early, understood ”! her mom stated firmly.

“Understood”. She agreed, turning to rejoin her new friend before anything else happened.

“ Sara” her mom called out after her, Sara stuck her head back into the room. “He’s cute”! smiling at her daughters excitement.

“Isn’t he”! she bit her lip “ Bye”.

The two hurried out the door and to the car. Sara got in the passenger side. “That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen”, ”how did you do that”?

“You just have to know how to talk to mothers”! he smiled ,pulling away from the house. “Where to first”?

“You’re driving so I guess anywhere you want to take me, I am at your mercy”. Smiling, looking out the window as if she were seeing the city for the first time. The colors seemed brighter. Old venues seemed open for adventure.

Still in the newness of the relationship they didn’t talk much, exchanging conversation related to the songs or the news on the radio. It was a 30 mile drive to his farm. If her mom had know they were going this far away on their drive she would have never agreed to it, or maybe with a little more persuasion from Tim , anything was possible. Sara felt uncomfortable to a point. She was still on the passengers side, almost molding herself into the door panel. Every once in awhile Tim would glance over at her staring out the window. She would see him out the corner of her eye.

“What”? she would question.

“Just wondering what you’re thinking”. He would smile. “You comfortable way over there”?

“Just wondering if you really have a horse named Sara or if it was just a really great line I got sucked in to”. she smiled and giggled .

“There is a party out at Crystal Springs, if there’s enough time after we are done at the farm , would you like to go there for awhile ”? he asked as they left the interstate, heading on to the dirt road that leads to his farm. “I’m sure there will be a few people from Jamestown there”.

“ Sounds good”. She glanced over at him, her eyes feeling her way up and down his body, stopping at his chest. His shirt was unbuttoned half way down, exposing his chest. He had well formed pecks, with just the right amount of chest hair. She could once again feel heart pounding, she sighed heavily, squirming in her seat.

“Everything okay”? he asked, smiling at her staring at him.

“ Yeah, it’s just getting really warm in here. Don’t you think so”? she began fanning her face, feeling embarrassed for getting caught staring at his chest.

The farm was good sized . It had two houses, a barn and a shop. A woman carrying a bucket was heading towards the house. It was his mom. Tim came racing up towards here, pretending he was going to hit her , then stopped short. She began scolding him , shaking her finger at him. Tim laughed playfully. Sara opened the door. Before even getting all the way out of the car Tim introduced her to his mom.

“Mom this is Sara, Sara this is my mommy”. Once again being very playful, putting his arm around her neck, kissing her cheek.

“Now you stop that, Sara is going to think you are off your rocker”. pushing him away, “ nice to meet you”. “What are you kids up to” ?

“Wanted to show her the horses the were going into town for awhile”. Tim turned towards the barn ,looking back to see if Sara was following .

“Do you really have a horse named Sara”? she asked his mom looking in his direction in case she caught him in a lie.

“Sara and Dakota , be careful around Dakota. He isn’t in the best of moods today”. She called to Tim as they headed for the barn.

“You didn’t really believe me”? Tim smiled .

“I haven’t known you very long but I have the feeling you are a very smooth talker”. She exclaimed as she took in the sights.

As the turned the corner of the barn, Tim took out a cigarette. “My mom hates it when I smoke”. “The big one is Dakota”. He pointed in the direction of the two horses in the coral.

They were both beautiful. Dakota was a dark ,chocolate color and probably the tallest horse I had ever seen. Very curious of my new smell. He took to me right off. Sara was a lighter brown, with beautiful eyes. She was not as eager to make my acquaintance. She danced back and forth searching for Tim’s hand for reassurance. Once he began stroking her nose, she settled down. He offered to saddle them up, but at the time, it didn’t sound like a good idea . He led her to the inside of the barn. They had some new baby lambs. They were so cute. The little bundles of energy felt like little balls of cotton, searching our hands for food. Tim continued the tour of the homestead, ending up back at the house. It wasn’t Sara first time on a farm but it fascinated her seeing everything through his eyes. That and she couldn’t get enough of hearing him talk.

“If we are going to hit that party, we had better head out”. Tim headed back towards the door, closing the gates behind them. Once Sara was in the car he headed up to the house but returned in minutes with a cooler, putting it in the trunk. Although feeling much more comfortable ,she still maintained her distance between them, though she really wanted to sit next to him. Touch his hand, his blonde hair. Tim jumped in, putting on his glasses, turning on the radio and once again, lighting up a cigarette. Heading back up the dirt roads back into town. There was still very little conversation. In the distance she could see a car approaching them. It was a friend of his. The two cars pulled along side each other. The two men exchanged conversation, mainly regarding to the party we were on our way to. A brief introduction of his female friend and the two men resumed their talking. Sara noticed a bee had flown in the back window and was buzzing around near Tim’s head. In an attempt to swat it away she brushed his hair ever so softly but enough for him to notice that she had touched him. From that moment he no longer was aware of his friend outside the window. He gave her a smile, reaching over, putting his hand around the inside of her tight, pulling her next to him. “I was wondering how much longer it was going to take for one of us to make a move”. She was going to try to explain about the bee but decided just to smile sweetly and let the actions take their course. Pulling away from the other car, Tim did not move his hand from her leg, giving her a little squeeze every now and then. The car began to slow coming to and approach. Tim turned off into a field. The car came to a stop atop a hill facing the small town. The sun was starting to go down which lit the country side afire with color. He took off his glasses, looking her in the eyes, ”You sure are cute”. Leaning in slowly, kissing her. Soft teasing ,little kisses at first then covering her mouth fully. His tongue searching for her. He touched her face, hair, then wrapped his hands around her waist. Slowly lowering her to her back on the front seat of the car.

Her thoughts were racing. This guy doesn’t waste any time getting down to business. She wanted to sit up and stop this but it felt so perfect. Her thoughts mentally guiding his hands over her body, releasing a gentle groan of pleasure as he crossed a tender spot, sending chills down her back. Her hands feeling their way across his broad back , his arms which held her firm, yet tenderly. She held on to his waist for just a moment, letting one hand slide to his thigh. Her hand pushed between the two of them, feeling the heat they were making. She could feel him swell at her touch. The wondering hand finally came to rest on his firm buttocks. His kisses began to wonder, down her neck , behind her ear lobe, which causes her back to arch slightly. With his hand he brushed her shirt off the top off her shoulder, brushing his lips across, teasing with his tongue. With a rush of passion his lips returned to her mouth, almost harsh in pressure. His hand felt it’s way to her pants, fumbling with the button. Upon opening it, his hand slipped just inside. Then he stopped. Although her thoughts were to slow this down ,they were nearly to the point of no return. She wanted him. She didn’t care if it would have been the only time , she had to feel him. Almost as a junkie needs a fix. Tim touched her face, she kisses his hand as it brushed past her lips, tempting him to kiss her again.

“You would have let me, wouldn’t you”? he looked her in the eyes.

“ No, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t get real close”. She replied, almost confused. Although she knew she very well may have let him.

“You liar”. He smiled. After a brief silence, and straightening of clothes he took her hand. “I would really like to get to know you better”. “I’ve been finding out that if you sleep with someone right away, before getting a chance to know each other ,you don’t really want to get to know them anymore” , ”Do you know what I mean”?

For the first time in any relationship she had ever had, it was the guy that wanted to slow things down. She felt as though she was floating on air. Squeezing his hand with approval.

“We had better get to that party before I change my mind”. He smiled sweetly, kissing her warmly. “Dam, you sure are cute”.

Medina was a small farming community , which consisted of 8 to 10 streets, 2 churches, 2 gas stations and 2 bars, a post office and a general store. All the necessities a farmer needs. It gave “cruising main” a whole new meaning. After 8 or so passes through town , Tim headed east , back out of town. After a few miles he turned off into a field. Coming around a grove of trees, a party appeared from out of no where. A bright bon fire lit the area. Twenty or so people huddled in groups, visiting, drinking beer. A keg sat on ice in the back of a truck. Several guys sat on the tailgate, as though guarding their treasure. Very few of the guys looked familiar but Sara knew most of the girls. Mainly girls from her school , who were also dates guys from Medina. Although she didn’t hang out with any of them they all knew each other and were wondering what she was doing there. Julie was the only one who knew how and why she had managed to end up on Tim’s arm. Sara immediately began getting really nasty stares from one group of girls. To find out later that night, it was Tim’s ex-girlfriend. He had ended it with her , but she wasn’t done with him just yet. The music soon reached a blaring pitch. It gave just the right ingredient to give a festive touch to the event. Tim sent much of his time mingling with friends but never lost sight of where Sara was also mingling. After a time he joined her. Leaning against the car, placing her in front of him, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm in the cool night air. Kissing the back of her head.

“You having a good time”? he asked, giving her a squeeze. “Yeah , but I have the feeling some people don’t think I should be hear”. She gave a glance over towards the local girls.

“Don’t worry about them”, He gave her a long , warm kiss. “But it is 9:00 and we had better get you home. I don’t want to get on the bad side of your folks. I plan on being able to see a lot more of you”.

“Oh really”. She looked up at him with a smile.

“Oh yeah”! he smiled, raising his eyebrows. Which brought them both to laughter. Taking her hand, they stole away into the night.

The drive back to town was quiet. Sara kept looking up in to Tim’s face, wondering what he was thinking. Was he taking her home to never call her again? Was he upset we had to leave the party early because she had to be home so early? He looked into her eyes, putting his arm around her. She turned side ways , leaning her body on his chest, resting her head on his shoulder. This didn’t feel like a last time nuzzle.

Pulling up in from of her house, with plenty of time to spare, he took her in his arms, kissing her softly. “ I have an idea, but it’s up to you if you want to try it.” Intrigued, she sat up, waiting for him to tell.

“I don’t want to let you go just yet , but I know ,to keep on the good side of your folks ,you have to go in but maybe you could sneak out and spend a little more time together, in say an hour or so”. He kissed her.

How could she say no to those two lips, or those eyes. If she got caught she’d be grounded till she turned 18. “It’s getting late, shouldn’t you get back to Medina”, “It’s quite a drive late at night“. She added with a note of concern.

“It will be worth it to send even an hour longer with you”. “I’m going to get a soda and I’ll be back in , say, an hour or so. I’ll park on the corner. If you don’t make it back out by midnight I’ll go home and give you a call in the morning”. Reassuring her it would be okay. “You better go, the sooner you go in the quicker you’ll get back out”. Tim reluctantly opened the door to let her out. One last kiss and Sara hurried up the drive and inside. She watched his car pull away. Now how was she going to pull this one off.

Her mom was sitting at the table , waiting for her to come in. “So, how was it”? she asked. “Did you have a good time”?

“I have never been so nervous in my whole life” she collapsed into a chair at the kitchen table. “I could even talk most of the time, I just kept staring at him”. She smiled to herself, remembering the brightness of his eyes looking into hers.

“What did you guys do”? her mom watched her face for signs of mischievous goings on.

“Drove around mainly, talked to a few people”. Sara forced a yawn, laying the footings for her plan. ”Tim wants to come over tomorrow night, if it’s okay with you”?

Continue to Part 2 Return to Story/Essay Index